This week's Beat Notes features Columbus Dispatch reporter Max Filby.
I work as an investigative reporter for The Columbus Dispatch, where I've worked for nearly seven years.
In 2025, I led The Dispatch's "Invisible Killer" investigation into how federal, state and local leaders fail to protect Ohioans from radon
— an odorless, colorless gas known as the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers that's also been linked to leukemia, stroke and heart attacks.The investigation resulted in thousands of requests for free radon tests from the Ohio Department of Health, which briefly ran out of tests. The project was funded by grants Filby won from the National Press Foundation and the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.
This summer, I coordinated
The Dispatch's efforts to publish a comprehensive public salary database. The searchable database included the payrolls of school districts, universities, cities and more.
Below, I answer more specific questions about my job.
What my beat entails
As an investigative reporter, I'm often juggling long-term projects with short-term accountability stories. Sometimes, I'm even juggling multiple projects at one time.
One day I might be interviewing a central Ohioan about losing a loved one. Another day I might be submitting a records request for a fired official's personnel file.
The work may change day to day but the end goal remains the same: writing stories that hold the powerful to account.
Max's most read recent stories
My most read stories this summer included much of our public payroll coverage at The Dispatch.
After we published the salaries of several local governments, I wrote a story to go along with each specific data set. Readers showed a lot of interest in particular in the payrolls we published from local school districts.
Stories about salaries in Columbus City Schools and Olentangy schools were by far our most read payroll project stories.
Upcoming stories
Right now, I'm wrapping up a project on concussions in football from the college level all the way down to youth football. That three-part series should publish later this fall during the height of football season.
I'm also continuing to publish local government payrolls as we receive them per our records requests we submitted earlier this year.
And I'm already getting to work on a major Dispatch investigation to publish in 2027. More on that in the weeks and months to come.
Share your ideas
If you have a news tip or an idea, please feel free to reach out at any time.
Shoot me an email at mfilby@dispatch.com or you can find me on X at @MaxFilby. I also have an online tip form where people can send me information or ideas anonymously.
Dispatch investigative reporter Max Filby can be reached by email at mfilby@dispatch.com. Find him on X at the handle @MaxFilby or on Facebook at @ReporterMaxFilby.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Reporter Max Filby already working on Dispatch's 2027 investigation
