School of Journalism

In the frenzied environment of the Columbia Missourian newsroom, metro editor John Schneller works with student after student on reporting, writing and rewriting. “He always pushes you and sets high expectations,” one student says. “John can see through a muddle of information and hit on the real backbone or issue of a story,” says another. A graduate recalls: “Schneller is equally willing to break down a city council agenda for a student who has never seen one or line-edit the most advanced writer’s investigative project. He can find any student’s strength and any story’s weakness.” One colleague credits Schneller with fostering Missourian reporting that is “richer, more nuanced and more sophisticated than ever before.”

When journalism faculty redesigned the seminar taken by entering master’s students to better balance theory with its relationship to journalistic practice, Schneller began co-teaching the class. Noting that Schneller has now become a theoretical scholar in his own right, one co-teacher says: “John Schneller is a teacher of practice who has become a teacher of theory and practice. Trust me, this is very, very rare in journalism.”

Schneller earned his bachelor’s degree from MU. He joined the MU faculty in 2000 after more than 20 years as a reporter and editor at the Columbia Daily Tribune. He has edited Missourian student work that has received awards from the Missouri Press Foundation and the Investigative Reporters and Editors national organization, as well as the Hearst Journalism Award for in-depth rewriting.