AP vet Davenport receives Order of the Palmetto

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Story Created: Oct 26, 2012 at 2:15 PM EDT

Story Updated: Oct 29, 2012 at 9:15 AM EDT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Associated Press reporter Jim Davenport has received South Carolina's highest civilian honor.

Gov. Nikki Haley presented Davenport with the award Friday during a private ceremony. Haley said Davenport's integrity and diligence have shaped her view of reporters in a positive way.

Davenport has cancer and is on leave from the AP. He has reported on politics for the news cooperative for more than a dozen years, seeking to inform South Carolinians about what their governors and other powerful officials are doing with the public's money.

He has also been a tireless advocate for the state's Freedom of Information Act, coordinating the first audit that showed how little public bodies and law enforcement agencies understood about the public's right to know.

Davenport also previously covered business for The State in Columbia.

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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP