Hello, I’m Sam Gelder, a freelance journalist from Wolverhampton now based in London.

I have over a decade of experience as a staff journalist in local and national news, as well as magazine and investigative journalism, spanning print and digital.

I’ve worked as a news editor at openDemocracy and HuffPost UK and as deputy digital editor at The Big Issue. I am currently an assistant editor at Dialogue Earth.

I spent seven years in local news, where I was chief reporter at the Hackney Gazette and the Islington Gazette. I’ve also worked as a freelance reporter at The Guardian and PA news agency.

I have done consultancy work for the National Council for the Training of Journalists, including creating e-learning courses to support trainee journalists and newsroom leaders. I also volunteer as a mentor with the John Schofield Trust, which supports aspiring and early-career journalists from underrepresented backgrounds. Coming from a working class background myself, I’m passionate about fixing the glaring lack of representation in the industry.

My journalism focuses on social justice issues – housing, the climate crisis, local politics, the justice system, health, sport and leisure and communities, all of which I’ve been covering for over 10 years. Examples of my recent writing can be found here.

• X
• Bluesky
• Mail
• LinkedIn