Susie Neilson
Susie Neilson works on the San Francisco Chronicle’s investigative team. She is a recent Pulitzer Prize finalist, honored for “Fast and Fatal,” a probe into the rising number of deaths resulting from police car pursuits across the U.S. She tells Bonnie Eslinger ‘98 about her favorite J-School memories, gives some good advice to journalists just launching their careers and talks about her latest investigation.
Susie Neilson (’19), joined the San Francisco Chronicle as a data reporter shortly after graduating from UC Berkeley and moved to the daily newspaper’s investigative team in 2024. She can now add Pulitzer Prize finalist to her resume after being honored for “Fast and Fatal,” a probe into the rising number of deaths resulting from police car pursuits across the U.S.
Neilson, who lives with her partner in San Jose, Calif., tells us about her years studying (and procrastinating) at the J-School, how keeping a focus on the stories is a good way to guide one’s journalism career path, and why California’s insurance system is making it more difficult for homeowners trying to rebuild after the state’s devastating wildfires.
What is a memory from your time studying at the J-School?
I have many fond memories of my favorite classes – Earth Journalism, book writing, data reporting, to name a few – but the image that first comes to mind is hanging out in the student lounge between classes, where I spent many hours procrastinating various assignments to chat with my brilliant peers. I will always be grateful to those classmates — some of whom are now among my closest friends! — for pushing me to be a more creative, thoughtful, and brave journalist (and person).
What do you enjoy doing when you have free time?
When I’m not working, I am either running, hiking, looking at cool plants through magnifying glasses or watching ’90s movies with Jazz, our elderly, fuzzy gray cat.
What advice do you have for someone just starting their journalism career?
If you are passionate and hard-headed enough, you’ll eventually get to wherever you need to go. So don’t be afraid to take a wonky-looking path. I spent way too much time early in my career worrying about what the “right” next step was, when I should have been trying to tell the best stories I could, immersing myself in other journalists’ work, and finding mentors to learn from.
What story are you working on now or hope to investigate?
Right now I am working on a long-term investigation into the impact of California’s ongoing insurance crisis on wildfire survivors. Our first installment was about a flawed algorithm that shortchanges wildfire survivors trying to rebuild their homes; our second was about a rare toxic metal being found inside of L.A. fire survivors’ homes. Stay tuned for installment #3!
How does it feel to be a Pulitzer finalist?
At first, I almost refused to believe it. But as the realization sank in, I felt so deeply proud of myself and everyone else involved in the project, particularly of my reporting partner Jennifer [Gollan] and of the brave families who shared their stories with us. Today I feel mostly back to normal; the lasting impact has been the increased confidence that I can take big swings.