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Josh Renaud’s Biography
Read Full Bio →Josh Renaud is a journalist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and the publisher of the computer history website Break Into Chat. In 2022, he received the National Press Club's domestic John Aubuchon Award for press freedom, and an Ethics in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, after discovering that a state website was exposing the sensitive information of thousands of Missouri teachers and persevering through an investigation and false accusations made by the governor.
Josh Renaud’s Journalist Portfolio
Interview
See all 4 answers →What was your first job as a journalist?
Have you ever used a typewriter?
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Awards
See all 12 awards →National Press Club Award
2022 - Press freedom
The National Press Club honored me with their domestic John Aubuchon Award, in order to recognize how data journalists "use technology to highlight and expose government failings" as well as how "government officials are using threats to try to intimidate journalists away from this important watchdog role."
Society of Professional Journalists Award
2022 - Ethics
The Society of Professional Journalists recognized me with its "Ethics in Journalism" award for "reporting on potential exposures of social security numbers of Missouri teachers, through the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s web site." This award honors journalists or news organizations that perform in an outstanding ethical manner demonstrating the ideals of the SPJ Code of Ethics.
Horace Mann Friend of Education Award (print journalism)
2022
The MNEA gave me this award for discovering a privacy vulnerability on the Missouri DESE website. The organization thanked me for "reporting a critical issue and causing the state to better safeguard teachers' private data."
Lee Enterprises President's Award
2017 - Innovation in Digital Audience
Shared with Walker Moskop and Andrew Nguyen for our work developing the St. Louis Crime Tracker, St. Louis School Guide, and Area Government Salaries news apps. Judges wrote the apps: "give [the Post-Dispatch's] audience accurate, useful and easy-to-use tools to answer questions about neighborhood safety, school performance and the use of local tax dollars. To date, nearly 450,000 users have accessed these tools to review public salaries, analyze and compare schools and school districts, and study crime activity in and around their neighborhoods."
Global Editors Network
2016 - Data Visualisation of the Year - Finalist
I was one of nine finalists for "Data Visualization of the Year (Large Newsroom)" for my news app, "Build a New St. Louis".
Society for Features Journalism
2016 - Digital Innovation
Shared 1st Place ward with Ian Froeb and Gabe Hartwig for our "Ian Froeb’s STL 100" restaurants app. Judges wrote: "This was great fun – with fresh design and tons of reporting – and you felt like you got a comprehensive grasp of the St. Louis dining scene. But the real genius was the easy, responsive design of the restaurant search. It was fast and easy to choose your niche cuisine (food trucks! Turkish!) and/or price range, and see a photo grid of results to click into for more details."
Great Plains Journalism Awards
2016 - Designer of the Year - Finalist
I was one of three finalists for the Great Plains Designer of the Year award.
Missouri Associated Press Managing Editors
2015 - Headline Writing
Won 1st Place for the headline "Day of protests/Night of frenzy" in the Aug. 11, 2014 edition of the Post-Dispatch.
Scripps Howard Award
2015 - Breaking News
This award was given to the Post-Dispatch news staff for its Ferguson coverage. The judges wrote (in part): "The Post-Dispatch was tested by a story that was fluid, emotional, important and not easily told with clarity and balance. ... Its editors and layout team pulled together the results in vivid and compelling packages on day one, day two and beyond.”
Society for News Design
2015 - Award of Excellence - Special coverage / single subject news
This award was given to the Post-Dispatch design staff for our work covering the Ferguson unrest in 2014.
Missouri Press Association
2013 - Best Video
Shared 1st Place award with photographer Huy Mach for our work on the "Joplin: Then and Now" interactive photo feature showing the city's recovery from the 2011 tornado.
Lee Enterprises President's Award
2012 - News
I shared Lee's top journalism award with reporter Nancy Cambria for her "Deadly Day Cares" series. I designed the three-day series in print, and developed special interactive features for STLtoday.com.