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Inside Sports: School Hosts National Sports Journalism Institute

School Hosts National Sports Journalism Institute

Columbia, Mo. (June 2, 2017) — For the sixth year in a row, the national Sports Journalism Institute‘s 10-day boot camp is being held at the Missouri School of Journalism May 26 through June 3. The nine-week training and internship program, led by Sandy Rosenbush of ESPN, Leon Carter of ESPN and Gregory Lee of NBA.com, is designed to attract talented students to journalism through opportunities in sports reporting and editing and enhance racial and gender diversity in sports departments nationwide. This year’s class of four women and eight men were selected from colleges around the country, among them Colton Pouncy, who graduated from Missouri in May.

The group is receiving intense training at the Columbia Missourian, a community digital-first newspaper that serves Boone County and a learning laboratory for Missouri journalism students. Sessions are being held on a variety of sports-coverage topics, including game preparation techniques, writing, blogging, using social media and copy editing. The students are also covering a St. Louis Cardinals game and visiting the Negro League Museum in Kansas City. Some members of the School’s faculty – Pete Bland, Matt Dulin, Laura Johnston, Tom Warhover – are teaching some of the sessions. They are joined by Greg Bowers, who served as an associate professor and Missourian sports editor before his retirement.

After the boot camp, the students will move on to high-profile internships at outlets such as ESPN, MLB.com, Sports Illustrated and the Kansas City Star. Students returning to college will receive a $500 scholarship.

SJI is celebrating its 25th class this year and has helped prepared more than 300 students for careers in sports journalism. SJI received the prestigious Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism in 2015.

SJI works with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). Funders and partners include Associated Press Sports Editors, MLB.com, Disney and the Missouri School of Journalism.

Updated: October 22, 2020

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