In the late 1960s, Amiel was a story editor and, for a brief period, a presenter for CBC TV Public Affairs. In the 1970s she was intermittently on contract with both CTV and TV Ontario and was a regular on the CBC TV's midday "Bob McLean Show". Amiel first joined "Maclean's" magazine in 1976 working as a senior writer, associate editor and columnist. "By Persons Unknown: The Strange Death of Christine Demeter" (1977, co-authored with her second husband), won The Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best non-fiction in 1978. She served as the first female editor of the "Toronto Sun" from 1983 until 1985.