Missouri School of Journalism Professor Marty Steffens wins SABEW’s highest honor, the 2026 Distinguished Achievement Award
Martha “Marty” Steffens, a professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW), the organization’s highest individual honor.
The Distinguished Achievement Award was established in 1993 to recognize individuals who have made a significant impact on the field of business journalism and who have served as a nurturing influence on others in the profession.
“Marty has spent more than two decades bringing the Missouri Method to business journalism classrooms and newsrooms around the world,” said David Kurpius, Dean, Missouri School of Journalism. “This recognition from SABEW reflects the lasting impact she has had on her students and on the profession.”
Steffens holds the SABEW endowed chair in Business and Financial Journalism and joined the Missouri faculty in 2002 after a career leading major American newsrooms, including serving as executive editor of the San Francisco Examiner and in senior editing roles at the Los Angeles Times. She is retiring from the university this year.
Her teaching is grounded in the Missouri Method. Students in her classes analyze live financial data, report on earnings in real time, and engage directly with industry leaders. Many of her graduates now work at Reuters, Bloomberg, CNBC, and other leading national outlets.
Steffens has also organized student reporting trips to New York, Seattle, Austin, and other media hubs, offering students direct access to newsrooms and industry networks.
“This recognition means a great deal to me because it reflects the work my students and those SABEW members in my training sessions have gone on to do,” Steffens said. “Business journalism, at its best, holds power to account and helps people understand the forces shaping their lives. From any workshop or class that I teach, I hope that my students leave Missouri ready to ask better questions, follow the money, and report with both rigor and courage.”
Her reach extends beyond Columbia. Steffens has trained student and professional journalists in more than 30 countries, including China, Russia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, and helped train the first generation of women journalists in Saudi Arabia.
She served on the executive board of the International Press Institute, chaired its North American Committee for Media Freedom, and has testified before the United Nations Human Rights Council. She also co-organized SABEW’s Goldschmidt Data Immersion workshops, one of the nation’s premier training programs for business journalists.
Her teaching has been recognized with the Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence and the Missouri Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
“What keeps me optimistic is the next generation,” Steffens said. “My students are smart, skeptical, and unafraid to tackle complicated stories. They understand that business reporting isn’t just numbers — it’s about people, power, and consequences. That gives me a lot of confidence in where this field is headed.”
Steffens is only the second business journalism professor to receive the Distinguished Achievement Award. The only other was Jimmy Gentry, affiliated with Missouri, the University of Nevada, and the University of Kansas, who received the honor in 2003.
She will be recognized at the SABEW annual conference in Philadelphia in May.
“When I heard about the award, I immediately thought of my students and the newsrooms that shaped me,” said Steffens. “This has always been a shared effort — learning, reporting, pushing to get it right. I’m honored to be part of a community that cares so deeply about the role of business journalism in a free society.”
Updated: April 22, 2026