Alex Stuckey
Recipient of the STAR REPORTER OF THE YEAR award in The Charles E. Green Awards (2021)
Alex Stuckey
Houston Chronicle
Judge’s Comments:
Alex Stuckey
First, I have to confess that I belong to the less-is-more school of journalism. I often find the well-intentioned, investigative long-form stories both ponderous and self-indulgent - more intended to show how comprehensive we are than engaging and motivating readers. Then there is Alex Stuckey’s brilliant, beautifully written, heart-tugging investigation into the failed and flawed Texas mental health system. Stuckey uses narrative of individual mental health patients surrounding the findings of a year-long inquiry to make sad and maddening points of suffering untreated. We begin with the tragic story of Don Wallace. Then we get the bold declarative sentence: “A year-long Houston Chronicle investigation found that the Wallace’s son was housed in a secretive system that has suffered for years from underfunding and insufficient oversight.” Stuckey sets a high bar but backs up every syllable in words, statistics and graphics. The narrative never is forgotten or becomes secondary. Here is the last graph of story 1: “When Don died so young, his parents couldn’t bear burying him in the family plot. So, they had him cremated instead and put his ashes in a stately black clock. It sits on his father’s desk, ticking off the moments until they will be together again.” I was hooked. Stuckey never let me down in the final four pieces. She also gives state, medical and hospital officials a chance to answer for the problems. It is not just the up to a year waiting list for beds in state hospitals that Stuckey uncovers. Also, we learn of the higher cost and frequent problems in the private psych hospitals used by the state when there are no public beds available. Stuckey’s use of language is engaging, reminding us that journalists can look to non-fiction work for story telling techniques. Take this lead, that could be an opening sentence in a novel: “Frances Musgrave’s son won’t take a shower because he thinks the water is poison.”
Or this sentence later in the story: “For those ill enough to be committed, it stabilizes them, then spits them back out.” Stuckey also avoids medical jargon in describing mental illness: “Bipolar disorder is like waking up to a sunny day and going to bed in a thunderstorm — sometimes, Stetson would wake up happy and upbeat only to go to bed horribly depressed.” This sentence comes from the final story of the portfolio and is the purest of the narrative with a tik-tok of Stetson’s final days. I could go on and on in praise of this body of work but it would jeopardize my less-is-more standing.
I would suggest that Stuckey’s entry be required reading for any journalism school’s advanced reporting class. Stuckey’s talent is humbling.
C. David Kotok
Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star reporter, retired
Judge’s Bio:
C. David Kotok retired in late 2012 after more than 35 years as one of Nebraska’s leading journalists. He is best known as a political reporter for The World-Herald and the Lincoln Journal. He interviewed every president from Gerald Ford to Obama and covered 10 national conventions. He was named one of the top political reporters “beyond the Washington Beltway.” Kotok concluded his career as an urban affairs reporter in Omaha, a war reporter in Iraq and, and finally as managing editor, running the day to day news operation of The World-Herald. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Iowa. He has been married for 51 years. David and his wife, Shane, have three grown children and four grandchildren.
To see writing from award-winning journalist Alex Stuckey, click on the PDF links below:
In Crisis February 28
In Crisis March 7
In Crisis March 13
In Crisis March 25
In Crisis May 9
In Crisis June 3
In Crisis September 19
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