UPIU is excited to announce the winners of the latest UPIU Freelance Contest — Andrew Ford of the University of Florida and Mohammed Raja Mohammed of American University in Iraq.
Both students are pursuing in-depth stories on religion and politics in their countries, and we’re excited to see how they turn out! Andrew and Mohammed have submitted preliminary story outlines and are discussing reporting strategies with UPIU mentors right now.
Andrew Ford
Andrew Ford is a long-time contributor to UPIU, and a journalism major at the University of Florida. He’s also a creative writer with poetry, essays and plays to his credit. UPI.com published a story of his last year profiling a 71-year-old grandmother who is one of the hottest nightclub DJs in Europe.
He’s now working on his freelance piece about a controversial church whose preacher is pursuing not only worldwide salvation, but also the presidency of the United States.
Mohammed Raja Mohammed
Mohammed Raja Mohammed is new to UPIU, and studying journalism at the American University in Iraq. He’s participating in a media club, which is doing workshops with UPIU for the first time this semester. He has worked as both a reporter and editorial editor for the university’s Voice newspaper.
He’s now pursuing a story about the role religious leaders, particularly mullahs, play in the political process in Kurdistan.
These two intrepid j-students are off and running with their freelance assignments. Deadlines are in just a few weeks, so watch UPIU and UPI.com for their finished stories!
