If thereโs ever been a time for us at the Maroon to brag, itโs now. See, former News editor Daniel Gilbert (A.B. โ05) won a Pulitzer Prize last month. His paper, the Bristol Herald Courier, won the 2010 Pulitzer for public service reporting for Gilbertโs eight-part series on an obscure escrow fund set up by the Virginia government that allowed oil companies to drain natural gas without paying landowners; they came out after 13 months of reporting. An international relations major, Gilbert only joined the Maroon in his third year; he didnโt mention wanting the Prize to inspire others to do the same. He sat down at his old desk to talk about the Pulitzer, the Easter bunny, and drinking with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Chicago Maroon: What did you want to accomplish with the series that won you the Pulitzer?
Daniel Gilbert: I wanted to find out why people are not being paid, why are royalties going into escrow, what oversight is there of the process. And if there is no oversight, are companies paying what they are required to pay? And then if theyโre not, who are the victims? That last angle was crucialโฆ Itโs not going to resonate if people donโt identify on a personal level.
CM: Now that you worked on such a large project, are the small stories a piece of cake?
DG: Not at allโฆ. My editor likes to tell the story that nine days before we won the Pulitzer Prize, I was covering an Easter egg hunt. On a staff of seven people, we all have daily work and write community features. Those stories are sometimes the most challengingโฆwhere you donโt know anything that makes a story particularly newsworthy but have to look for something engaging.
CM: So what was the angle on the Easter bunny story?
DG: What I ended up asking was, How is it that one becomes an Easter bunny? I talked to a couple of people dressed up as Easter bunnies and led with that.
CM: What, if anything, did you like about being a student at the U of C?
DG: I actually liked the University of Chicago, so I donโt know if itโs easy for me to single out one thing. It might be the Pub.
CM: Any interesting Pub stories?
DG: I canโt remember if I was leaving the office or somewhere else in [Ida Noyes], but I walked out the door and I saw black SUVs all over the place and men in suits with earpieces and I thought, โSomethingโs up here. Whatโs the deal, whoโs here, and why donโt I know about it?โ
I went down into the basement and saw more people and walked into the Pub and itโs packed with Secret Service types and military typesโฆ. I asked one woman who said, โItโs the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffโฆโ I made my way over there, I had a notepad out, and introduced myself to the general and asked him a few questions. I remember he offered to buy me a drink and said, โLet me buy you a beer.โ
I didnโt take him up on it because I wanted to write something and didnโt feel like I could drink and write at the same time, although now I wish I could have tried harder so I could say I had a beer with Peter PaceโฆI remember him being incredibly down to earth, very cool and at easeโฆI think it ran as a Q&A on the front page.
CM: What was your favorite part about working for the Maroon?
DG: To leave knowing that you just put the paper to bed and everyone else is sleeping and youโre just coming home from work is a bit of a jolt. I used to live on Drexel, and you walk across the campus and you might even see the early morning lightโitโs a special time for sure.
CM: Thirteen months of reporting [on the natural gas escrow fund] leaves you with a lot of information. Who helped fact check?
DG: A great deal of that burden was on me because I know far more about that story than my editorsโฆ When it came down to the actual computer analysis that showed these companies arenโt complying with the law, I sent it to the companies and said, โYou fact check itโฆ hereโs the problem, please explain it.โ One company looked at it and said, โYouโre right, we messed up, weโll fix itโฆโ The other company said, โWeโre not going to have that conversation with you,โ and have subsequently paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in delinquency royalties.
CM: The most recent articles talk about how the new laws arenโt really making progress. How does it feel that the issue isnโt resolved yet?
DG: You canโt write a big eight-part series and expect people to read that and do the right thing, and you canโt wait for legislators to introduce legislation and just trust that itโs going to work. I didnโt, and have maintained a level of appropriate journalism skepticism through the processโฆIโve got the ball rolling, but itโs important to make sure the people who deserve relief get relief.
CM: Have you ever considered a more hands-on position, like becoming a legislator?
DG: Thereโs a reason why Iโm not in public officeโI think Iโm more effective as a journalistโฆ Iโm in the business of asking questions and clarifying things. A little bit of the Socratic method goes a long way.
CM: What is the key to being a good reporter?
DG: If you ask a good question, youโre going to get something thatโs of interest, but you have to be careful to choose your line of inquiryโฆ I had what I thought was a legitimate, important question, and I never think twice about asking what I think is a good question.