I'm Steven Monacelli. My reporting investigates the hidden systems and individuals behind power and politics, with a particular focus on extremism, disinformation, political astroturfing, surveillance, immigration enforcement, and dark money — particularly in Texas.

An independent journalist since 2020, my work has been published in outlets including WIRED, Rolling Stone, Bellingcat, Texas Monthly, Gizmodo, Nieman Lab, MSNBC, Intercept Brasil, D Magazine, and more. I serve as a Special Investigative Correspondent for the Texas Observer, contribute to the It Could Happen Here podcast on iHeartRadio, and held a contract as a Columnist and Contributor with The Barbed Wire until the closure of its newsroom.

My work has received competitive support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Pulitzer Center, contributed substantially to award-winning reporting at the Texas Observer, and earned national awards for investigative innovation and audio journalism. I've appeared on regional, national, and international broadcast news and have been invited to speak at programs affiliated with NLGJA, Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism, and Yale Law School. My work has withstood legal challenges and harassment.  

I'm also an active nonprofit leader with experience in building, governing, and advising independent institutions that support publishing, cultural life, and emerging journalists.

I co-founded and serve as the publisher of Protean Magazine, an independent nonprofit literary and political publication reaching over 150,000 online readers and 1,000 print readers annually. Entirely ad-free and reader-supported, Protean was a CLMP Firecracker Award finalist for Best Debut magazine in 2020 and has been recognized by Literary Hub, CNN, Verso Books, and more. After helping create its editorial, visual, financial, and strategic foundations, I now focus on publishing and long-term strategy while a volunteer editorial team leads routine production.

I also co-founded and serve as the treasurer of Apprentice Creative Space, a nonprofit that supports the creative and civic community in Dallas through public programming, affordable coworking, and event space. During its formative years, I helped raise funds, recruit board members, establish systems and infrastructure, and develop a network of community partnerships and collaborations, including the Writers Garret, Urban Arts Center, the Oak Cliff Film Festival, Hay Festival, SMU, and the City of Dallas. Day-to-day operations are now managed by a director of operations.

I also serve on the board of the Retrograde, an award-winning student newspaper at the University of Texas at Dallas. Previously, I served on the boards of Teatro Vision and the San Francisco Children's Art Center. 

I grew up in Colleyville, Texas, and am an alumnus of Northwestern University, where I graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and contributed to The Daily Northwestern. Before entering professional journalism, I worked in business strategy and operations at Deloitte and Google, as well as with technology startups and a regional nonprofit. There I developed skills in data analysis, project and program management, network mapping, organizational design, and open-source intelligence. I now apply those methods to complex investigations involving organizational networks, financial relationships, digital identities, and institutional systems.