Sara Shahriari is a print and radio journalist. She received a degree in English Literature from The University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree from the Missouri School of Journalism.
The ability to tell stories through print, audio or soundslides allows Sara to choose one medium for a piece or create a multimedia package. The portfolios here include work from Ecuador and Bolivia published by The Huffington Post, The Christian Science Monitor and Global Post, stories aired on NPR affiliates, and award-winning magazine features.
If you wish to contact Sara regarding freelance or work as a fixer, please e-mail her at shahri8989@gmail.com.
Why Bolivia reelected Evo Morales
The Christian Science Monitor - Evo Morales won a second term in Bolivia’s December, 2009 election by a 40 percent margin over the next contender. How did he win, and keep, the people’s heart? By Contributor Sara Shahriari and Staff Writer Sara Miller Llana in The Christian Science Monitor.
Bolivian Indigenous in First Autonomy Vote
GlobalPost - Under Bolivia’s new constitution, indigenous communities have the right to govern themselves. How autonomy will take shape remains a question. By Sara Shahriari as a special to GlobalPost.
GlobalPost - On one La Paz street, pre-Catholic traditions mix with magic. Calle de las Brujas is home to shops that sell herbs, llama fetuses and charms to bring luck. It’s a look into Bolivia’s past, and its soul. By Sara Shahriari as a special to GlobalPost.
GlobalPost - Panama hats have been woven in Ecuador for hundreds of years. With the hats back in the fashion spotlight in Europe and the U.S., everyone from hat weavers in tiny, poor Andean communities to exporters in Cuenca, Ecuador, is trying to figure out how to make this boom a lasting boon. Story by Sara Shahriari, multimedia by Steve Remich as a special to GlobalPost.
This story won an Honorable Mention in the 2009 Missouri Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.
Columbia Missourian - For over 50 years Claire Kucera has protected and studied a piece of Missouri prairie never broken by the plow. Kucera, now in his 90s, no longer leads students to the prairie to learn its secrets, and the research station he built stands in ruins. By Sara Shahriari in the Columbia Missourian.
Adelante – Legendary masked Mexican luchador Mil Mascaras films a movie in Missouri as part of his mission to strengthen ties between U.S. and Mexican universities. The resulting film pits luchador against a deranged mummy king with a background of jungles, Aztec tombs and legions of the undead. You’d never know it’s Missouri. Story by Sara Shahriari in Adelante magazine.
Homeless Teenagers Build Lives
Columbia Missourian - Many 18 year olds aren’t prepared to make it on their own. They don’t have money to pay rent or the life skills to get a full-time job and meet all the responsibilities that come with living independently. Sol House is a transitional living program for homeless youth that teaches residents skills they need to find a safe and stable home of their own. It’s a struggle, and not everyone makes it. Sara Shahriari reports in the Columbia Missourian.
Columbia Missourian - News organizations are struggling mightily to make online content profitable. Many use huge layoffs in a desperate attempt to stay afloat financially. What is happening to the money behind our news, and what does the future hold? By Sara Shahriari as a feature in the Missouri School of Journalism’s special centennial section.
Columbia Missourian - Donato Ndongo, a visiting professor at the University of Missouri, faces threat of death if he returns to his home country of Equatorial Guinea. The tiny, Spanish-speaking African country is ruled by a dictator accused of gross human rights abuses. The U.S. maintains ties with Equatorial Guinea country despite this, hoping to take advantage of the country’s significant oil deposits. Ndongo, a founder of Equatorial Guinea’s literary tradition and a leader of the country’s large exile community in Spain, wonders if he will ever be able to return home. By Sara Shahriari in the Columbia Missourian.
Dolphin for Dinner and a Boat Trip From Hell
Road Junky – During a year spent teaching middle school in the isolated Marshall Islands, Sara had many bizarre experiences, but dolphin on the menu and a near drowning made this day memorable. By Sara Shahriari, a finalist in the Road Junky Hell Trip writing contest.
Carcinogenic Compounds Present in City Water
Columbia Missourian - The use of treated wastewater to flood Columbia, Missouri wetlands may contribute to increased levels of organic matter in two city wells. Sara Shahriari examines studies by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Columbia Missourian.
This article won honorable mention in the 2009 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Student Magazine Contest, Service and Information.
Vox magazine – Bad credit is staggeringly expensive for anyone using a credit card or borrowing money. So what goes into creating a credit score, and how can a young person building credit ensure that it doesn’t become an albatross? Sara Shahriari explains in Vox magazine.
Ancient Egypt’s Place in the Sun
Was ancient pharaoh Akhenaten the world’s first powerful monotheist? This magazine explores the life and ambitions of a king whose legacy was nearly erased by his successors. By Sara Shahriari at Hollister Kids for The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
