Rural reporter sticking to story that won Pulitzer

Pulitzer Prize-winning rural journalist Daniel Gilbert says he will remain with the Bristol Herald Courier to continue reporting on the natural-gas royalties scandal he uncovered in southwest Virginia. The Media General paper was recently honored with the most-coveted Pulitzer, the Gold Medal for Public Service, for his enterprise on the story. Despite the honor, Gilbert hasn't received any job offers from big newspaper recruiters, Ian Shapira of The Washington Post reports. (Post photo by Michael S. Williamson: Gilbert, right, talks with Publisher Carl Esposito)

"There's a lot of buzz at the moment, but none of that means I'm a better journalist," Gilbert told Shapira. "I wouldn't say this catapults me to stardom." Gilbert expressed doubt to Shapira about his future as a journalist during tough economic times for the industry, but he has reassured Managing Editor J. Todd Foster that he plans to stay with the 30,000-circulation paper, Editor & Publisher reports. Foster told E&P after receiving the award last week that Gilbert "committed to me that he wanted to see this story through," and he had restated that commitment after the Post published its article Monday. (Read more)