JEFFERSON CITY — The Nationwide Press Membership has awarded St. Louis Put up-Dispatch information journalist Josh Renaud a press freedom award after his discovery that academics’ Social Safety numbers might be uncovered to the general public on account of flaws on a state web site.
After Renaud alerted the Division of Elementary and Secondary Training about the issue, Gov. Mike Parson directed the Missouri State Freeway Patrol to research Renaud and described the incident as a “hack.”
The Nationwide Press Membership introduced Thursday that Renaud had gained the 2022 Home John Aubuchon Award. Aubuchon was a former press membership president “who had a eager curiosity in problems with press freedom,” the Press Membership stated.
In a joint assertion, Jen Judson, president of the Nationwide Press Membership, and Gil Klein of the Nationwide Press Membership Journalism Institute, stated Renaud had produced “a powerful physique of journalistic work over his profession” however that the Press Membership was “significantly impressed with Josh’s latest journalism involving a vulnerability he uncovered on a web site belonging to the State of Missouri’s Division of Elementary and Secondary Training.
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“That vulnerability had left the Social Safety numbers of public educators uncovered and Josh’s diligence led to the safety flaw being corrected,” the Press Membership stated. “For this work Josh acquired the Horace Mann Pal of Training Award from the Missouri Nationwide Training Affiliation. However his watchdog reporting additionally elicited scorn and threats from Missouri Governor Mike Parson.”
“Parson introduced a legal investigation into Renaud’s work and referred to as his public service reporting ‘a hack’ and accused the Put up-Dispatch of getting a vendetta towards him,” the assertion continued.
Parson had pledged at a information convention that he would “not let this crime towards Missouri academics go unpunished” and vowed to not be “a pawn within the information outlet’s political vendetta.”
The Press Membership stated, “Whereas it has develop into a deeply regrettable nationwide development for some public officers to assault the press, this appeared to us a very egregious instance because the Missouri governor was calling for Renaud to be punished earlier than an official investigation had even taken place.”
It identified that Renaud alerted Missouri public schooling officers to the safety flaw upfront of story publication “and agreed to carry the story till officers had time to repair it.”
Certainly, Training Commissioner Margie Vandeven deliberate to thank Renaud earlier than Parson threatened him, the Put up-Dispatch reported, citing information obtained from the governor’s workplace via a Sunshine Regulation request.
After the Freeway Patrol completed its investigation, the company forwarded its report back to the Cole County prosecutor, who declined to press costs within the case.
“We’re honored that the Nationwide Press Membership has chosen to acknowledge Josh for his work, and for his braveness and style in enduring a troublesome state of affairs,” stated Put up-Dispatch Government Editor Alan Achkar. “Now we have an obligation to serve the general public and maintain authorities our bodies accountable. Public officers can attempt to bully us, however we gained’t waver from our mission. Josh is a first-rate journalist, and he proves regularly why public service journalism stays essential to our society.”
In a press release, Renaud stated, “I really feel privileged to work as a journalist in a rustic the place freedom of the press is enshrined in regulation. However my ordeal reveals that we will’t take that freedom as a right. We should maintain accountable public officers who use their energy to intimidate journalists.”
A spokeswoman for Parson didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Thursday.