NEW YORK – The Charleston Post and Courier and its 17 community news partners were awarded a Special Citation of the 2022 Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting for their investigative series, “Uncovered.” The Voice of Blythewood and Fairfield County is one of The Post and Courier’s community news partners.
The citation was for the series on rising local corruption in South Carolina, partly a consequence of the decline in local news sources and the reduced number of watchdogs holding local officials accountable.
Teaming up with other newspapers throughout the state, the Post and Courier and its partners found that government officials from state legislators to city council members to town administrators engaged in unethical behavior — including going on taxpayer-funded junkets and outright stealing from government coffers — while no one was looking.
Judges said the series and the local partnership “provides a model for news organizations in other communities with news deserts.”
ProPublica won first place for its series exposing how the wealthiest Americans avoid paying income tax.
The Tampa Bay Times’ placed second for its 18-month examination of the problems at Florida’s lone lead smelting facility, “an example of holding corporate and government institutions accountable.”
The Wall Street Journal won third place for “The Facebook Files,” a report on Facebook’s inaction as its platform has been used in malignant ways,” the judges wrote.
CONGRATULATIONS Job well done.
We the reading public appreciate your journalistic integrity
Thank you again
Jeff Schaffer
Lake Monticello