inewsource wins national First Amendment Coalition award for open government reporting

Holding power to account is one of inewsource’s driving principles. And today, that grit and persistence was recognized with high honors from a national organization dedicated to educating, advocating and litigating to advance government transparency.

The First Amendment Coalition gave inewsource a Free Speech and Open Government award, recognizing our work to expose illegal rent increases sanctioned by local housing commissions. As a result of our investigation, carried out by reporter Cody Dulaney, several government agencies, including the one in San Diego, changed their policies to ensure the region’s most vulnerable tenants are no longer being taken advantage of.

inewsource was honored with the FAC award along with two other news teams: reporters from NBC Bay Area, and a six-person team from CBS News and Stations and The Trace, in collaboration with Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.

“All of this work exemplifies the finest in public service journalism,” said FAC Executive Director David Snyder. “In an age when the news media is constantly vilified by our leaders and distrust of the government is endemic, FAC is proud to honor these courageous journalists who speak truth to power and hold our institutions accountable.”  

inewsource Managing Editor Jamie Self said the investigation prompted unusually quick impact.

“Seldom do investigations into public policy issues yield such swift and far-reaching results,” she said. “In this case, tens of thousands of low-income families in San Diego are now being promised protections from excessive rent increases provided by state law – a law few housing agencies were following until after Dulaney’s reporting exposed that fact.”

Following is a summary of Dulaney’s work, which spanned more than a year:

In November 2023, Dulaney’s investigation made public that the San Diego Housing Commission was failing to comply with a state law that caps rent increases for many tenants. The Commission distributes $300 million in public housing vouchers each year to help low-income families pay their rent. It serves 17,000 families as the largest public housing agency in the county and among the largest in the state.  

Using the state’s open records law and data analysis, Dulaney revealed that the Commission had approved rent increases exceeding the state cap and didn’t have a system for tracking or auditing rent increase requests for compliance with the state law. In fact, since that law took effect in early 2020, the San Diego Housing Commission had been operating as though the law doesn’t apply to Section 8 tenants, among the most vulnerable in any community and certainly in San Diego, where housing costs are setting record highs nationally.

The agency continued its policy even as California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued guidance online for landlords and housing agencies in late 2022 and again in mid-2023, telling them the law applies to Section 8 tenants and admonishing agencies to comply. 

Dulaney’s reporting prompted rapid response across the region.

San Diego’s city council president immediately questioned the interim housing commission CEO, in a public meeting, about Dulaney’s report and told housing officials to claw back any illegal rent increases. The Housing Commission later announced a plan to comply with state law.

In 2024, Dulaney followed the policy changes closely. He fact-checked the housing CEO’s claims, and followed up with the remaining housing agencies to see how their policies were unfolding. The investigation resulted in three housing agencies adopting new policies to check landlord rent increase requests for compliance with state law. 

The First Amendment Coalition’s annual Free Speech and Open Government Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the advancement of free expression or the people’s right to know about their government.

The other awardees were Candice Nguyen and her team at NBC Bay Area who investigated the failures of California’s new, statewide, internet-based emergency calling system called Next Generation 911. The project was entitled, “CA Next Gen 911: Too Big to Fail.”

And Chris Hacker, Stephen Stock, Amy Corral, and Nicole Vap of CBS News and Stations and Champe Barton and Alain Stephens of The Trace collaborated with Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting on “Shot by a Civilian Wielding a Police Gun,” about how former police duty weapons end up being used in crimes.

I want to thank the FAC for spotlighting the value of the inewsource investigation.

inewsource is a small nonprofit investigative newsroom in San Diego, but we’re committed to having an outsized impact on our region and beyond. This work is testament to that.