Learning by Doing: How Mizzou Builds Women Sports Journalists

Amber Winkler arrived at the Missouri School of Journalism believing baseball beat writing was a long shot. As a junior, she’s already doing the job.

Before enrolling at the Missouri School of Journalism, Amber Winkler had aspirations of making it to the big leagues as a reporter and writer.

“I once told my high school adviser that if I was going to do writing for my career, I was going to be a baseball beat writer,” Winkler said. “I came into the J-School thinking that was a long shot — that’s never going to happen.”

But now, as a junior at the J-School, Winkler is already building a professional sports journalism résumé through the school’s Missouri Method of learning by doing. She has covered Mizzou baseball and football for Sports Illustrated and has chronicled athletics at Stephens College and Columbia College for the Columbia Missourian, the university-owned community newspaper and Columbia’s paper of record. This summer, she will accelerate that momentum as the Hummel Intern at the St. Louis Post‑Dispatch under longtime Cardinals beat writer Derrick Goold.

Winkler will bring multifaceted skills to the historic newspaper as a writer and photographer, along with a highly developed sports writing philosophy.

“Numbers and statistics are important in stories, but you can’t forget the person behind those numbers,” she said. “Emotion is something that gets left behind in some journalism. If the quarterback gets picked off, he’s probably pretty sad about that. In baseball, you get frustrated when you strike out. It’s part of the game.”

For Winkler, capturing a well-rounded view of the human experience isn’t just about writing. From the beginning of her time at Mizzou, she has taken the initiative to develop as a photojournalist, as well as a reporter and writer, embracing the school’s emphasis on cross-training.

As she has polished her portfolio, Winkler has begun to recognize a familiar refrain — ”Yeah, we’ll let you do that.” She heard it most recently at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch where Goold adjusted her internship to include photography, and she hears it often at Mizzou where faculty encourage her to seize opportunities and shape her college experience.

For Winkler, that encouragement has become affirmation — proof that women belong on the beat, and that her career is no longer a question of if, but when.

To learn more, visit admissions.missouri.edu

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