Amanda Hinnant
Professor
Doctoral Faculty, Journalism Studies
210 Lee Hills Hall
Missouri School of Journalism
Columbia, MO 65211-1200
B.A. in English, Bates College
M.A.in Journalism, University of Missouri
Ph.D. in Media, Technology, and Society, School of Communication, Northwestern University
- Health Journalism
- Media Sociology
- Science Communication
AMANDA HINNANT is a professor of Journalism Studies, the Wallace Turner Memorial Faculty Fellow, an award-winning educator, and a widely published researcher.
Hinnant was recognized in 2025 with Mizzou’s Graduate Faculty Mentor Award. She was named the Outstanding Woman in Journalism and Mass Communication Education in 2021 by AEJMC’s Commission on the Status of Women. She has taught 16 different classes since she started at MU in 2006 and has served on the graduate committees for more than 150 master’s and doctoral students. She serves as an Associate Editor of Science Communication.
Hinnant’s research focuses on health journalism and science communication, media sociology, and narrative persuasion. Hinnant currently does science communication training as part of an NIH grant with colleagues in the School of Medicine. She has led many research teams on health communication research sub-grants for the School of Journalism from the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences and the Centers of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research. Recent projects include a nationwide survey of health journalists, improving clinical trial and donor recruitment, and the use of narrative to enhance engagement with health and science stories.
Hinnant also serves the university and community. She is currently serving on Faculty Council, and she was honored with the 2019 Shared Governance Award (individual) from Faculty Council. Locally, she is the Chair for the City of Columbia Commission on Human Rights and the Board President for GreenHouse Theatre Project.
Hinnant has won top paper awards from the AEJMC Communicating Science, Health, Environment and Risk Division, the Magazine Division, and the Entertainment Studies Interest Group. Her research has been published by prestigious journals, including PLOS One, Climatic Change, Health Communication, Journalism Studies, Computers in Human Behavior, and Communication Research. Hinnant has taught courses on communication research, qualitative methodology, documentary storytelling, journalism and democracy, as well as magazine reporting and writing. Her professional experience includes writing and editing for Real Simple and Glamour magazines.
Selected Publications
- Ciera Kirkpatrick, Sisi Hu, Yoorim Hong, Namyeon Lee, Sungkyoung Lee, Amanda Hinnant* (2025).“‘I Respect Whatever Decision You Make!’ How Autonomy Support and Exemplars in Short-Form Videos Influence Clinical Trial Recruitment” Health Communication https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2025.2496745
- Cory MacNeil, Amanda Hinnant, Asma Khanom (2024). “Flag Lapel Pin Ban: 20-Year Retrospective on the Discourses About Journalistic Ethics, Objectivity, and Patriotism,” Journalism, https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849241292917
- Yoorim Hong, Namyeon Lee, Ciera Kirkpatrick, Sisi Hu, Sungkyoung Lee, & AmandaHinnant* (2024). “Trust me, I’m a doctor.’ How TikTok videos from different sources influence clinical trial participation.” Health Communication https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2346680
- Amanda Hinnant, Sisi Hu, Yoorim Hong, & Rachel Young (2023). “Contested certainty and credibility: The effect of personal stories and scientific evidence in user comments on news story evaluation and relevance,” Science Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547022115050
- Mengyao Xu, Lingshu Hu, & Amanda Hinnant (2023). “Pseudo-events: Tracking mediatization with machine learning over 40 years,” Computers in Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.107735
- Lise Saffran, Sisi Hu, Amanda Hinnant, Laura Scherer, and Susan Nagel (2020). “Constructing and Influencing Perceived Authenticity in Science Communication: Experimenting with Narrative,” PLOS One, January 15, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226711
* Equal contributions by authors
Selected Book Chapters
- Amanda Hinnant (2024). “Journalistic conceptualizations of health and science: An overview” Merryn McKinnon and Kim Walsh-Childers (Eds) Handbook of Science and Health Journalism, Palgrave MacMillan
- María Len-Ríos, Amanda Hinnant, & Rachel Young (2024). “Public relations and understanding culture as a social determinant of health.” Brooke McKeever (Ed), Public Relations for Public Health and Social Change, Routledge.
- María Len-Ríos, Amanda Hinnant, & Rachel Young (2024). “Health Journalists’ views of their work amid a pandemic and U.S. partisan political conflict.” Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah & Tamar Ginossar (Eds), Health and Science Journalism in the 21st Century: Emerging Practices During Crises, Lexington Books
Selected Awards
- 2025 MU Graduate Faculty Mentor Award
- 2023 Arthur W. Page Legacy Scholar
- 2022 Faculty-Alumni Award, Mizzou Alumni Association
- 2022 Gold Chalk Award for graduate education from MU’s Graduate Professional Council
- 2021 Outstanding Woman in Journalism and Mass Communication Education from AEJMC’s Commission on the Status of Women
- 2020-21 O.O. McIntyre Professorship for Teaching Excellence from the School of Journalism
- 2019 Shared Governance Award for an Individual from University of Missouri Faculty Council
- 2016 Invited scholar to Northwestern University’s Media, Technology & Society Speaker Series
Updated: August 7, 2025