By Adam Campbell

Arooj Malik is a third-year journalism student at the University of the West of Scotland. She is 24 years old and is a graduate of Glasgow Clyde College, where she studied Media and Communications. She is multilingual and boasts an intimate knowledge of the culture and traditions of the Middle East, having travelled extensively throughout the region.

Malik has expressed her desire to report on the true nature of politics and inter-faith relations in the Middle East. It is a complex and quickly changing world, but she is unperturbed by the scale of the challenge facing journalists in the area.

The confluence of Christian, Hindu, and Islamic communities in the Middle East – and the faith-based conflicts associated with this area – have been the source of much copy in recent years. Malik believes that quality journalism has an important role to play in challenging some of the misconceptions around faith-based violence in the Middle East. She feels that the perception of the Arab world in the West is inadequate – and that pernicious stereotypes have been allowed to develop in many Western countries. She hopes to bring a level of integrity and authenticity to this most sensitive of subjects.