Mizzou is considered one of the best journalism schools in the United States and has a widely respective news program run by mainly students. Ally Schniepp, a senior at Mizzou, is currently a co-beat writer for the Mizzou men’s basketball team at the Columbia Missourian newspaper. She works on these stories for the basketball team with Joseph Pastilha. When Schniepp was in high school, she went to Liberty and took journalism and magazine with the publications teacher, Jonathan Hall.
On March 2, Schniepp did not have classes and Hall decided to set up a zoom call with her. Hall scheduled this call during 4th hour, the magazine class, and also brought in a few other students from his other journalism classes. Schniepp answered questions by the students as well as explaining the experiences of being the men’s basketball beat writer and advice for their future in journalism.
“It was a good experience and I’m glad I signed up,” Kirsten Pinkham (10) said, who is in online news and is the LHS hockey beat writer.
Schniepp did not immediately get into the basketball program, as she started with smaller projects. She started with Friday Night Fever with local games in the area for The Missourian. Friday Night Fever is a local high school football show, where they have highlights and cover games in the Columbia area. Art and culture is also one of the topics Schniepp started with, as she is one of the managing editors for the Vox Magazine, published by Columbia Missourian.
Eventually she reached out to her boss and she got the spot as one of the beat writers for the Mizzou men’s basketball team. Although Schniepp was nervous and thought she did not have a lot of experience, she knew that she had to take the offer, as this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. She is now also an associate TA editor for the sports section of the Missourian.
“Having the background of writing for the Vox definitely helped me get the spot,” Schniepp said.
As students were listening to her, they wrote down advice she gave to better their interviewing, reporting, and journalism as a whole.
“She had a lot of insights into what it’s like to be a college journalist,” Ella Quinney (12) said.
Schniepp shared one of her favorite stories that she has ever written, and explained how it took months to write and sometimes it takes a long time to get the product you want. This story is a feature on Jacob Crews, and his life as a father and husband while being a Mizzou basketball player. It is also being submitted for a few awards but has not won any yet. This story showed the students the motivation you need for journalism.
“I put the most work and thought into this story,” Schniepp said. “I had a hand in every part of production of this feature.”
The students learned a lot from Schniepp and are ready for their own journalism careers. They are motivated for what’s to come next in college with her help.
