East Bay Express, Palo Alto Weekly, San Francisco Bay Guardian and SF Weekly were honored by the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club on Saturday.
In the thirteenth installment of this year's "How I Got That Story" series, Nate Blakeslee talks about how he uncovered sexual abuse in Texas' youth prisons for the Texas Observer. The investigation ignited a firestorm that led to the arrests of two employees and the firing of top officials. Blakeslee says the key to his story was a document he was tipped off to and then was able to procure. "Reporters don't often run into documents like this one. In fact, a person can go a whole career without a case like this," he says. "This story was just waiting out there to be found. I can say if you find something like this, get it into print as soon as you can."
Nate Blakeslee was formally recognized by the Texas House yesterday for his investigation that helped expose sexual abuse at a state youth correctional facility. The Texas Youth Commission has been rocked by the scandal, with the board resigning and a special rehabilitation plan put into place.
