WASHINGTON –Press the President, an online collaborative blog, has announced its inaugural collegiate writing scholarship competition. Organizers and Judges hope to encourage young writers to get involved in political issues important to them.

“This will be the first in a series of various writing competitions that Press the President will host for university students,” said Founder of Press the President. “The site has been growing in both authorship and readership and we expect it to continue expanding with this scholarship opportunity. We also recently started allowing authors to share video blogs on the website, bringing a face and a spoken voice to politically active individuals in the United States.”

Contest guidelines:

• ·         Students attending a college or university at the associate, bachelor, master, or doctorate degree level are eligible to participate.
• ·         The submission deadline is December 31st. The length of submissions is between 500 and 800 words. 
• ·         The submission form will require an “.edu” email and all finalists will be vetted to ensure they are currently enrolled at a college or university.
• ·         A panel of professors and journalists at colleges all over the country will judge the incoming submissions.

Prizes:

• ·         The top three winning entries will receive a $500, $250, and $125 scholarship for their efforts. Students can submit articles here.

Press the President has two accomplished judges who will select the winning articles for the university student writing contest. Carly Cooper, a former journalist and a current advertising and public relations professor at the University of Alabama, and award-winning journalist Scott Sobel will judge submitted articles.

Articles will be judged on:

• ·         How well they are written.
• ·         The ability of the author to persuade the reader.
• ·         Journalistic integrity of the article to include important information.

“New media is providing numerous opportunities for writers young and old to express themselves more quickly and directly with public figures such as the US president than ever before,” stated Scott Sobel, judge for the writing competition. “We are encouraging future leaders among our young college-age writers to jump into the fray and give voice to important issues.”

Press the President is a worldwide forum for unfiltered debate about U.S. issues affecting the globe. The site’s founders want to create a space where writers could express their opinions freely.

If any media are interested in writing about the university student writing competition hosted by Press the President, please contact Kipp Lanham at [email protected] or 202-449-9807. To be one of the first to try out the new video component at Press the President, visit them at www.pressthepresident.com. 

###

About Press the President:

 Press the President is an interactive political blog that allows its users to share their thoughts on current events in an open format and take an active role in public life. It was founded in 2009 by two international entrepreneurs with media and legal backgrounds who decided to combine their talents and create a space for everyone to have a voice about American issues that can impact the globe. The user generated content is free and anyone is able to write commentary for the website. All material is subject to review and removal by the editorial staff at Press the President if it is deemed inappropriate. We invite you to be aware and be active. Politics involves all of us and – your vote counts too.

Follow Press the President on Twitter:  @PTP_US

Follow Press the President on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ptp.us?fref=ts