DP loses ‘dean’ Gibson to institute
by Hawes Spencer
The Daily Progress is losing its senior reporter, the man whose 31 years of experience may be more than the total of the combined metro news squad. According to stories in this morning’s Progress and Newport News Daily Press, senior reporter Bob Gibson, who writes the influential “Political Notebook” column among other duties, is leaving the newspaper to head the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, succeeding Sean O’Brien, who left to head a new Constitutional center at Montpelier.
Gibson’s track record covering an array of topics— including an award-winning early ’90s investigation of racial sentencing disparities— has made him the “dean” of the local journalism world.
This is super news for Bob, who is a great reporter and even better guy, but a dark day for the Progress and Charlottesville news in general.
I don’t doubt that Bob would have stayed at the job he loved forever had Media General not regularly gone out of its way to make the Progress such an inhospitable place to work.
Anyway, congratulations to Bob!
Agreed. He’s one of the few reporters at the DP who both know the state and local government scene and can write a decent paragraph. He’ll be missed, but kudos to him on the new job - he’s a smart and deserving writer.
[...] Sad to hear that the Daily Progress is losing its best reporter (and one of the few writers there who could consistently put together a smart, tight paragraph), [...]