One thing that makes Missouri special is its close ties to the industries it serves. Working journalists take regular advantage of special facilities we operate and the professional organizations housed at the school. Some examples:
Professional Organizations
The Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) is an independent membership organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. Its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. It holds a national conference each year, publishes a quarterly newsletter, offers regional workshops and creates Web-based tutorials and resources for journalists.
The Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism is a program of AHCJ aimed at ensuring journalists are properly trained to cover news events, trends, and issues in all aspects of health care journalism, including the business of health care, public policy, medical research, medical practice, consumer health issues, public health, health law and ethics.
The Center on Religion & the Professions (CORP) works to improve religious literacy among professionals, including journalists, so that they can better serve, cover and communicate with a diverse public. The Center leads research on coverage of religion in the media and journalists' attitudes about and knowledge of religion. It also develops curriculum for training journalists in covering religion. The interdisciplinary Center is affiliated with the Missouri School of Journalism because of the School's commitment to teaching students the principles, techniques and knowledge required to reflect society's needs and values. Its director, Dr. Debra L. Mason, is also executive director of the Religion Newswriters Association, a professional association for journalists who write about religion in mainstream media.
The Committee of Concerned Journalists For the past 10 years, CCJ has worked with reporters, editors and managers in print, broadcast and online media to ensure that the highest ethical and craft standards are the essentials in newsrooms around the country and overseas. Now affiliated with the Missouri School of Journalism, CCJ uses its own "traveling curriculum" to deepen journalists' connection to the profession. CCJ is also involved with promoting a wider public understanding of journalism so that citizens may also be more aware that our democracy is dependent on maintaining high journalistic standards.
Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) is the nation's premier organization for investigative reporters. It has 5,000 members and holds three major conferences a year. IRE also publishes a bi-monthly magazine, The IRE Journal, and several books including The Reporters Handbook and The Primer on Computer-Assisted Reporting. Students help produce the magazine and have the option of taking our Investigative Reporting course from the national executive director of the organization.
The Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) is a national organization of women in the media industry. JAWS has become an effective advocate for women in the media and has conducted major research on salary differentials between men and women in similar positions in the media. A national meeting annually brings together more than 120 news professionals.
The Missouri Interscholastic Press Association was founded in 1923 at the Missouri School of Journalism. It is the clearing house for students and teachers in middle schools, junior high and high schools who participate in their newspapers, broadcasts, yearbooks and magazines. Middle school, junior high and high school journalism advisers are encouraged to belong to MIPA. For membership information, please contact the Missouri School of Journalism. MIPA sponsors a Summer Media Workshop for high school students. For more information, contact Doris Barnhart at
or 573-882-6031. Applications are available through the MU Conference Office.
Missouri Urban Journalism Workshop. Since 1970, the Missouri School of Journalism has dedicated itself to encouraging high school students to consider journalism as a career. The J-School, with the help of the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, Inc., created the Missouri Urban Journalism Workshop to increase the number of students entering journalism schools and has been one of the most successful recruiting programs in the country. For more information, contact Doris Barnhart at
or 573-882-6031.
The National Institute of Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) instructs working journalists and students in how to tap databases of governments and other institutions for important stories. Journalists from leading newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations, and networks regularly attend NICAR's training sessions, held both in Columbia and in major cities worldwide. NICAR is a joint venture of the Missouri School of Journalism and IRE. Our students can enroll in Computer-Assisted Reporting taught by the same people who teach the professionals.
The National Newspaper Association (NNA) serves as the nation's most important trade association for the growing community newspaper industry. NNA provides multiple services to its more than 2,600 member newspapers and lobbies on their behalf through its Washington office. The organization's headquarters relocated from Washington to Columbia in 2002. For students interested in small newspapers, community journalism, and newspaper management, NNA's presence in Columbia provides an invaluable connection.
The Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) has more than 1,800 members, produces a bi-monthly publication and holds an annual conference. Its members provided funding for an endowed chair in business and economics reporting at the School. The school serves as the home of this national organization. Marty Steffens holds the SABEW chair in business and economics reporting and teaches courses in business journalism. She is the former editor of several newspapers, including the San Francisco Examiner.
A Summer Media Workshop for high school students is sponsored each year by the Missouri Interscholastic Press Association. For more information, contact Doris Barnhart at
or 573-882-6031. Applications are available through the MU Conference Office.
Contests and Awards Programs
City and Regional Magazine Association. School of Journalism faculty judge and coordinate this national association's annual award contest and present the awards. Student assistants may become involved in this process and have the opportunity to attend the national conference and meet the editors of top city magazines as well as attend the practical professional improvement seminars for working editors. CRMA member magazines donate subscriptions to the school for use by students and faculty, and the faculty use winning entries in writing, design, and editorial categories in their teaching.The contest is open to the approximately 75-member magazines as well as non-members, and thus is entered by more than 150 magazines every year.
The College News Design Contest honors college newspaper and magazine designers. The Missouri chapter of the Student Society of News Design runs the contest and is host for the judging. The contest is supported by the Society of News Design.
The College Photographer of the Year (CPoY) competition offers all student photographers opportunities to compare their work with that of their peers from colleges and universities around the world. The contest, founded by Cliff and Vi Edom in 1945, continues to be judged by distinguished working professionals and student winners are rewarded with equipment, film and educational opportunities provided by contest sponsors. The University of Missouri administers the contest with the help of Kappa Alpha Mu, an honorary photojournalism society whose members shoulder the bulk of work involved in cataloging the entries and staging the contest. Student photographers from 50 colleges and universities submit more than 7,000 images for judging.
The Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Awards honor the best of lifestyle journalism in newspapers each year. The program, started with a grant from the J.C. Penney Co., has operated at Missouri for 45 years. Missouri has long been a leader in lifestyle reporting.
The Missouri Photo Workshop (MPW) is the world's oldest documentary photojournalism workshop and has been credited with solidifying career aspirations and reformatting careers of the young and mid-career professionals alike who participate. MPW has a volunteer faculty of working photographers and picture editors from metropolitan daily newspapers, (e.g., The Washington Post, The Seattle Times, The San Francisco Chronicle), news and general interest magazines (e.g., Time, National Geographic, Sunset) and freelance photographers who serve yearly. The faculty imbues the students with the Missouri Photo Workshop approach of "to tell truth with a camera," to respect the subjects they photograph, and to offer truthful, tough criticism.
Pictures of the Year International (POYi) is the oldest and one of the world's largest and most highly respected photojournalism competitions. POYi, however, is much more than a competition. It serves as an educational medium through its seminars, exhibits, books, online presence and work with university students. And, its rich visual archive contains the world's great photographs of the past six decades. POYi began as a photographic contest in the spring of 1944 in Columbia, Mo., when the Missouri School of Journalism sponsored its "First Annual Fifty-Print Exhibition" contest. The 35,000+ images recognized more than 63 years as the best in photojournalism are being assembled in an electronic database, the POYi Archive.
