The San Francisco Chronicle has been named a finalist for two 2023 Pulitzer Prizes. The Chronicle was honored for its investigation into the crisis inside city-funded permanent supportive housing for homeless people and for its photography of the ongoing fentanyl epidemic.
The Chronicle was honored in the Investigative Reporting category for its three-part series “Broken Homes,” reported by Trisha Thadani and Joaquin Palomino, which revealed how San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s administration has failed to adequately oversee the century-old single-room-occupancy hotels, or SROs, it relies on to house the city’s most vulnerable residents.
“Joaquin and Trisha’s reporting compelled San Francisco leaders to spend millions more on housing for homeless people, prompted voters to enact a new city law and — most importantly — amplified the voices of people who had long been ignored by the powerful,” said Lisa Gartner, the Chronicle’s investigative editor. “To say this is the standard we strive for as investigative journalists is an understatement. I am so immensely proud of them.”
Staff photographers Gabrielle Lurie and Stephen Lam were named finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for their work documenting the deadly fentanyl epidemic playing out in San Francisco. Lurie and Lam depicted the impact of the crisis on people who are addicted to fentanyl, their families and communities.
The Chronicle’s SRO investigation found that despite spending $160 million annually on permanent supportive housing, many SROs were plagued with unsafe and unsanitary conditions where residents lived in squalor and fear and deadly drug overdoses were common.
Many residents were subject to evictions for the same issues that made them eligible for supportive housing, sending them back to the streets, where potential tenants awaited acceptable placements, even as rooms sat empty.
Read “Broken Homes”:
Reporters Thadani and Palomino reported “Broken Homes” alongside photographers Stephen Lam and Scott Strazzante, who depicted the people at the center of the crisis, including those facing eviction, mourning the deaths of family members and neighbors to overdose, and activists working to aid fellow community members.
The Pulitzer Prize is among the most prestigious awards in journalism and honors the best reporting, photography, commentary and criticism. Chronicle photojournalist Gabrielle Lurie was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer for feature photography.
“Broken Homes” was also recognized by the Investigative Reporters & Editors Awards, winning top honors for print and online journalism in the division for midsize and regional media alongside another Chronicle investigation into child deaths inside the pediatric intensive care unit at John Muir Health.
