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 2022 with the Faculty-Alumni Award and also the Gold Chalk Award for graduate education. She was named the Outstanding Woman in Journalism and Mass Communication Education in 2021 by AEJMC’s Commission on the Status of Women. In 2020, she was honored with the School of Journalism’s O.O. McIntyre Professorship for Teaching Excellence. She has taught 16 different classes since she started at MU in 2006 and has served on the graduate committees for more than 140 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 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. Current projects include a nationwide survey of health journalists (in collaboration with the Reynolds Journalism Institute and the Association of Health Care Journalists), improving clinical trial recruitment, the use of narrative to enhance engagement with health and science stories, and the role of online comments in journalistic discourse.

Hinnant also serves the university and community. In 2019, she was honored with the Shared Governance Award (individual) from MU Faculty Council. To serve the field, she held office for the Communicating Science, Health, Environment and Risk Division of AEJMC from 2008-2014, serving the final year as head of the division. 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.