Bill Lueders is a freelance writer based in Madison, Wisconsin.

Bill, born in Milwaukee in 1959, is former editor and now editor-at-large of The Progressive magazine. Previously he was the Money and Politics Project Director for the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism for four years; there he wrote a weekly column that appeared in newspapers statewide. Prior to that,  he was the news editor of Isthmus weekly newspaper in Madison for 25 years.

He also serves as the elected president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, a statewide group that works to protect public access to government meetings and records.

Bill has been honored dozens of times for his reporting and commentary, including first place awards for interpretative reporting, business reporting and column writing from the Milwaukee Press Club, three Golden Gavel Awards for legal reporting from the State Bar of Wisconsin, two Golden Quill Awards for editorial writing from the International Society of Weekly Newspapers and 2009 and 2010 Genesis Awards for reporting on animal issues from the Humane Society of the United States. He is a co-founder of the Shepherd Express weekly newspaper of Milwaukee.

Bill’s most recent book is Watchdog: 25 Years of Muckraking and Rabblerousing (Jones Books). He is also the author of  An Enemy of the State: The Life of Erwin Knoll (Common Courage Press),  published in 1996,  and Cry Rape: The True Story of One Woman’s Harrowing Quest for Justice (University of Wisconsin Press), published in 2006.

Contact Bill at blueders [at] gmail.com.