2001 Journalism

Jason Fagone

was one of three reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle who earned National Headliner Awards in April 2022.

Fagone won first place in the feature writing category for “The Jessica Simulation,” a three-part narrative about a young man who used cutting-edge A.I. technology to seek closure with a chatbot simulation of his dead fiancee.

“Science fiction comes to life in this jaw-dropping entry,” the judges said of the story. “Well written and constructed and imaginatively presented.”

The 88th annual National Headliner Awards program, founded in 1934 by the Press Club of New Jersey, is one of the oldest national journalism contests in the country.

That was the second national award for “The Jessica Simulation”: Earlier in April, Fagone was awarded the prestigious Deborah Howell Award for Writing Excellence from the News Leaders Association.

In August of last year, The Chronicle sold film/TV rights to “The Jessica Simulation” to Universal Television to develop a limited series, after seven Hollywood production companies bid for the story.

Note Posted: August 29, 2022