Journalist’s Donation Creates Opportunities for Rural Reporters
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 29, 2010) − Rural journalists tend to work on a small staff and resources are often limited. Regardless, limited resources should not keep important stories from being written. That is the message of a $10,000 donation by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Daniel Gilbert to fund fellowships for the University of Kentucky's Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues.
Gilbert's idea came about when he was writing a series of stories on the mismanagement of natural gas royalties in Southwest Virginia. He needed to look at a wide array of companies and their data to make sure they made required deposits. He did not know the language of the data, a skill that is rarely available for reporters of small news organizations. In order to gain this knowledge, Gilbert attended a six-day reporting boot camp run by Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) at the University of Missouri. The boot camps are called Computer-Assisted Reporting (CAR).
Gilbert’s stories won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for public service for the Bristol Herald Courier. In addition to winning the Pulitzer, Gilbert has also won the IRE award for papers under 100,000 circulation and the first Community Journalism prize in the National Journalism Awards sponsored by the Scripps Howard Foundation. It is the cash prize of $10,000 from the National Journalism Award that Gilbert donated and to create the Fund for Rural Computer-Assisted Reporting in the endowment of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues. Gilbert wanted to fund fellowships for rural journalists to attend IRE's CAR boot camps like the one he attended, which enabled him to produce his prize-winning work. The money and other donations to the endowment are matched by the state Research Challenge Trust Fund. The more contributions the fund receives, the more fellowships can be awarded.
“Daniel Gilbert’s generous donation is more than a lasting legacy to rural journalists," said Al Cross, director for the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues. "It is a reminder of the challenges that rural journalists face – lack of resources, time and support – but also the opportunities they have, if given the right tools, to render great public service.”
The Fund for Rural Computer-Assisted Reporting will enable at least one rural journalist per year to attend IRE's CAR boot camp. The goal of R-CAR is to make training in computer-assisted reporting more accessible to those who cover predominantly rural communities. The boot camps teach journalists how to analyze data using spreadsheets and databases, to map data, and to use statistical analysis in their work.
"That the best journalism tends to be produced by the news organizations with the deepest resources is both logical and troubling," said Gilbert. "There are important stories to be reported in places where today’s media powerhouses have no presence. These stories will go unreported if not for enterprising journalists at rural newspapers, television stations and websites. The goal of R-CAR is to give such journalists a critical reporting tool that few have."
The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues (IRJCI) is based in UK's School of Journalism and Telecommunications. It is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional effort, with academic partners at other universities. IRJCI helps journalists who are located in non-metropolitan areas define the public agenda for their communities and grasp broader issues. IRJCI also helps journalists all over the country understand rural issues.
To make a donation to the fund, visit https://giveto.uky.edu/CIS_p/cis.htm and select the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues and type in R-CAR in the box for specific donations.