Ben Wheeler is a Law Enforcement Watchdog Reporter. He predominately focuses on law enforcement accountability reporting for McClatchy. He graduated with a BA in Communications from Tennessee Technological University, and a Masters in Journalism from the University of Memphis. He joined McClatchy in 2025. He has ten years of experience in journalism.
He has worked for the last decade in various markets doing a variety of roles. He started out as a general assignment reporter in South Dakota at the Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan, then his hometown paper the Herald-Citizen in Cookeville, TN. He then worked as an investigative reporter at The Daily Memphian in Memphis, before working as a digital director at ABC24 in Memphis, Tennessee. Outside of work, him and his wife have two cats and are enjoying checking out the new city.
LATEST FROM BEN WHEELER
Local
June 23, 2026 at 5:00 AM

Local
‘They don’t care about the district.’ Business owners question KCPD presence
Updated June 20, 2026 at 12:57 PM
Local
Friends remember Blake Thacker as brilliant, drumline leader and adventurer
June 18, 2026 at 4:51 PM

Local
Family of 2 Butler plane crash victims retain lawyers who fought other skydiving cases
June 18, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Local
Limited details, no arrests disclosed in recent high-profile Kansas City shootings
Updated June 18, 2026 at 3:09 PM

Local
House catches fire during police standoff with Kansas City shooting suspect
Updated June 17, 2026 at 1:55 PM

FIFA World Cup
Power and Light fans witness a Messi masterpiece in Kansas City’s World Cup game
June 16, 2026 at 11:40 PM

Local
‘We lost a lot of friends.’ Butler, MO, skydiving crash among the worst in decades
Updated June 15, 2026 at 11:02 PM

Local
Skydive Kansas City: 5 things to know about the deadly Butler airplane crash
Updated June 16, 2026 at 12:43 AM
Local
‘Devastating loss’: Skydive Kansas City issues statement following plane crash
Updated June 14, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Local
Skydive Kansas City prepares statement after plane crash kills 12 in Butler, Missouri
Updated June 14, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Local
Kansas City police to pay six figures in lawsuit over timekeeping fraud. See details
June 13, 2026 at 6:00 AM