I am Xander “Zan” Ready, a 2019 graduate of the Phillip J. Merrill College of Journalism master’s program at the University of Maryland. I was a 2018-19 fellow and co-recipient of The National Press Foundation’s Innovative Storytelling Award. My work was published under my previous name.
I specialize in data journalism and copy editing because I love clean, precise work that makes complex ideas interesting and accessible.
You can find examples of my work on the Samples page. You can also visit my GitHub repositories and my Data.World profile. If you’re looking for a copy editor, I charge the rates recommended by the Editorial Freelancers Association.
Skills:
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AP Style & copy editing |
HTML, CSS, WordPress |
R & Python |
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Excel, QGIS |
Markdown & LaTex |
SQL & PostgreSQL |
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Photoshop & Illustrator |
InDesign |
Audition & Premiere Pro |
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Layout & headline writing |
Photography |
Graphic design |
Professional History
Before beginning my journalism career, I was a freelance web designer and developer for almost 10 years, building on an undergraduate information technology degree. These skills serve me well in data journalism and make me a meticulous reporter and editor.
From fall 2017 to spring 2018, I was editor-in-chief at Campus Current, the Anne Arundel Community College student newspaper. In fall 2018, I worked for Capital News Service doing data cleaning and analysis for a large, cooperative project about guilty pleas by the innocent.
Throughout spring 2019, I reported for a joint Associated Press / CNS project examining high suicide rates in jails around the country and the lack of official data about those rates. During that time I also wrote a web scraper and performed analysis and reporting for a project about Russian disinformation, and I freelanced coverage of Prince George’s County.
Over the summer of 2019, I worked on an expansive project with UMD’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism examining the impact of climate change on Baltimore residents. My colleagues and I investigated the striking heat inequality between poor and wealthy neighborhoods using multiple databases, on-the-street reporting, interviews with experts and in-home sensor data we collected ourselves. The project released in August and was picked up by dozens of outlets. It has won both the Online News Association’s Challenge Fund for Innovation in Journalism Education and the National Press Foundation’s Innovative Storytelling Award.
Please see samples of stories for which I have reported, written, edited, and done data analysis here, and visit my LinkedIn profile for my complete resume.
Outside journalism and coding, my passions include Star Trek, cats, tabletop RPGs, disability and trans rights, comics, art, and helping foster equitable, inclusive, and diverse spaces.