Bill Battle had his first journalistic experience as a staff and sports writer for his junior high school newspaper, the Rockwood South Junior High School Ram Page, in the early 1980s. He continued to develop his skills in high school as a staff member of the Missouri Military Academy Eagle, including as editor, which earned him a spot as a finalist for Missouri Interscholastic Press Association’s high school journalist of the year. Into college, he continued to be involved in his schools’ newspapers and in 1990 he was a finalist for the Missouri College Newspaper Association’s college journalist of the year.
After graduating from Southeast Missouri State University in 1990, he joined the staff of the Washington Missourian as a sports writer, photographer and darkroom tech. He became sports editor in 1996. At the Missourian, he made a name for himself earning numerous awards from the Missouri Press Association, as well as other state, regional and national accolades for his sports photography and writing. He has been named the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Service Award.
Battle’s career has seen a number of transitions, not the least of which was the transition from film cameras with manual focus lenses to the current generation of digital bodies with low light sensors and autofocusing lenses. He covered every season of the St. Louis Rams (1995-2015), with the last 10 years as a photographer on the sidelines.