The San Diego Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is thrilled to announce our 2024 Journalist of the Year, Lisa Halverstadt, senior investigative reporter for Voice of San Diego. Halverstadt’s decade-plus of thoughtful coverage has had a profound impact on the region and earned her a reputation as a reporter unafraid to dig into the thorniest issues San Diegans face.

Over the past year, Halverstadt’s reporting revealed just how difficult it is to create new treatment options for San Diegans struggling with addiction, and how, even as the county faces a frightening rise in overdoses, detox beds are so rare that securing one is akin to winning the lottery. Her reporting on this crisis has directly impacted the discussions of public officials, even becoming an agenda item at the county’s Behavioral Health Advisory Board’s executive committee meeting.

Last year also marked the resolution of one of the most significant stories of Halverstadt’s career: the 101 Ash Street saga. Her reporting was vital in bringing the full scope of corruption to light and in recovering $9.4 million paid to commercial real estate broker Jason Hughes, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor conflict-of-interest charge last year. We know just how important her work was because prosecutors in the case credited her as one of the reasons they were able to recoup taxpayers’ money.

But no topic has dominated Halverstadt’s coverage quite as much as San Diego’s housing and homelessness crisis. Her years of dedication and compassionate, in-depth reporting have made her an authority on the crisis and has kept public officials and San Diegans — housed and unhoused — better informed.

“Lisa was instrumental in forcing the city to confront the homelessness crisis in 2017 and since then has truly been the voice of San Diego’s homeless community often straining herself and confronting trauma directly so she can accurately represent people who are living on the streets and include their voices,” Voice of San Diego CEO and Editor in Chief Scott Lewis said. “If she’s asking public leaders for something, they can’t ignore her because she will never give up. We’re proud and congratulate her for her selection as SPJ’s Journalist of the Year.”

Halverstadt’s recent stories covering disparate suspension rates at shelters have led to calls for change. Her thorough reporting of San Diego’s homeless camping ban, both before and after its passage, has explained its potential ramifications and the hurdles it has faced. Her coverage has also demonstrated just how challenging it is to move homeless people into permanent housing. At a time when concern about the homelessness crisis has reached a tipping point and rhetoric has become dangerously charged, Halverstadt’s work has put a human face to the struggles of people living on the street.

“SPJ San Diego is honored to recognize Lisa Halverstadt for her outstanding journalism this past year and dating back throughout her time as a San Diego journalist,” SD-SPJ board president Jill Castellano said. “Her coverage of housing and homelessness in particular has been critical to keeping officials, the public and unhoused people informed.”

Please join us in celebrating Halverstadt and our other award winners at Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens in Liberty Station on Thursday, June 27, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

You can check out our list of award winners here and buy tickets here.