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Genocide Prevention Op-Ed Writing & Video Contest
THE 2008 GENOCIDE PREVENTION OP-ED WRITING & VIDEO CONTEST
TOPIC
Since the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opened its doors in 1993, genocide has taken place in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan. Civilians have been threatened in Democratic Republic of Congo, Chechnya, and Burundi. The challenge of preventing and responding to genocide remains urgent.
What advice would you give the next U.S. President on preventing and responding to threats of genocide and related crimes against humanity?
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is asking individuals compose a video or write an op-ed responding to the question above. For the first time, the Museum has devised a separate category for video entries. This category is open to everyone. The writing contest is open to all students currently enrolled in a secondary school, college, or graduate program. Upload your video to YouTube or publish your piece in your school or local newspaper and enter it in the Genocide Prevention Op-Ed Writing & Video Contest.
ELIGIBILITY
Division I (Video): Open to all
Videos should be no longer than three (3) minutes. YouTube accepts video files from most webcams, digital cameras, camcorders, and cell phones in the .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, and .MPG file formats. Videos must be posted between August 2007 and March 15, 2008.
By participating in the competition, you agree not to submit, upload, or post any video that:
- libels, defames, invades privacy, or is abusive, profane, or threatening
- infringes on any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity
- falsifies or deletes author attributions, legal notices, or other proprietary designations
- violates any law
- advocates illegal activity
- knowingly contains viruses, corrupted files, or other materials that may cause damage to any computer system
- advertises or otherwise solicits funds or sales of goods or services
- contains lewd material or content inappropriate for viewing by the general public
Please see Entering Your Video for additional guidelines and online registration.
Division II & III (Written): All students in secondary school, college, and graduate school
Entries will be disqualified for any of the following reasons:
- Plagiarism
- Incomplete entry form or use of a different form than the one provided (entry forms may be photocopied)
- Entry does not adhere to these guidelines
- Entry was not published by a school or local newspaper
- Entry is postmarked after the March 15, 2008 deadline
All written entries must be published by a school or local newspaper between August 2007, and March 15, 2008. All entries become the property of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and cannot be returned. By your participation in the contest, you grant the Museum permission to reproduce, publish, distribute, and exhibit the winning entries in brochures, flyers, on the Internet, in other Museum publications, and in exhibitions.
ENTERING YOUR VIDEO
You may enter videos that have a posting date between August 2007 and March 15, 2008 ("End Date"). Entries must be received by the USHMM no later than the End Date in the following way: Entry solely via http://www.youtube.com/group/opedcontest and completing the online entry form. All submissions must be made in the form of video responses by posting the submitted video to the entrants own YouTube channel and adding them as a video response to the USHMM Op-Ed Contest Video available at http://www.youtube.com/opedcontest (the "Contest Video"). Once the submitted video is uploaded, entrants must return to the Contest Video and select "post video response", selecting their video submission. An individual URL for each of the responses will be created and shown as icons in the video response section of the Contest Video. Entrants are encouraged to join the USHMM YouTube channel.
Limit one (1) entry per person. If more than one (1) entry is received from the same user, only the first entry submitted by that user will qualify for entry in the contest; subsequent entries submitted by that user shall be disqualified. All entries become the sole and exclusive property of the USHMM and shall not be returned. Eligibility for prizes requires a street address (no P.O. Boxes). The USHMM is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, stolen, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, misdirected, technically corrupted or garbled entries, which will be disqualified, or for problems of any kind whether mechanical, human or electronic. Entries that do not comply with these Official Rules in all respects are ineligible and void.
You shall be solely responsible for your own submission and the consequences of posting or publishing it. In connection with your submission, you affirm, represent, and/or warrant that: (i) you own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and authorize the USHMM to use all patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights in and to any and all submissions to enable inclusion and use of the submission in the manner contemplated by the USHMM and these rules; and (ii) you have the written consent, release, and/or permission of each and every identifiable individual person in the submission to use the name or likeness of each and every such identifiable individual person to enable inclusion and use the submission in the manner contemplated by the USHMM and these rules. For clarity, all submissions are subject to YouTube's "Terms of Use" and these rules. By submitting the materials contained in your video (the "Content"), you hereby grant the USHMM and its legal representatives the irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right to use, reproduce, edit, market, sell, store, distribute, have distributed, publicly and privately display, communicate, publicly and privately perform, transmit, have transmitted, create derivative works based upon, and promote the Content (as such may be edited and modified by the USHMM and its licensees in its discretion) as the USHMM may designate in any medium now known or hereafter devised, for editorial, commercial, promotional and any and all other purposes. You agree that the USHMM owns all right, title, and interest in any compilation, collective work or other derivative work created by the USHMM using or incorporating the Content.
USEFUL GUIDELINES
- FILMING PEOPLE: Have release forms handy. Filming of children is strictly prohibited unless written permission from the parent or guardian has been obtained.
- CONTENT: Don't use copyright-protected material unless given express permission from the copyright holder. If you are looking for music to use in your video, take a look at PodSafe Audio. The artists on PodSafe Audio have released their music under the Creative Commons license and have agreed to allow their music to be used by you in any way and form for Webcasting, as long as you don't take credit for the original work. Be sure to credit the artist if you find something to use.
- USHMM RESOURCES: Helpful tools for writing your article or creating your video.
NOTIFICATION
Winners will be contacted by USHMM via e-mail and will be required to sign and return, where legal, a Liability/Publicity Release within ten (10) days of prize notification. If winner is considered a minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, Liability/Publicity Release must be signed by his/her parent or legal guardian. If a winner cannot be contacted within five (5) business days of first notification attempt, if the prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, if a winner rejects his/her prize or in the event of noncompliance with YouTube's "Terms of Use" and these contest rules and requirements, such prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner will be selected from all remaining eligible entries. Upon prize forfeiture, no compensation will be given.
CONDITIONS
By participating, entrants and winners agree to release and hold harmless USHMM, its advertising and promotion agencies and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors, from any and all liability, for loss, harm, damage, injury, cost or expense whatsoever including without limitation, property damage, personal injury and/or death which may occur in connection with contest, or possession, acceptance and/or use or misuse of prize or participation in any contest-related activity and for any claims based on publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy and merchandise delivery. USHMM is not responsible if contest cannot take place or if the prize cannot be awarded due to interruptions due to acts of God, acts of war, natural disasters, weather or acts of terrorism. Entrants who do not comply with these Official Rules, or attempt to interfere with this contest in any way shall be disqualified.
ADDITIONAL TERMS
Any potential winner may be requested to provide USHMM with proof that such winner is the authorized account holder of the YouTube channel associated with the winning entry. The USHMM is not responsible for technical, hardware, software, telephone or other communications malfunctions, errors or failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, web site, Internet, or ISP availability, unauthorized human intervention, traffic congestion, incomplete or inaccurate capture of entry information (regardless of cause) or failed, incomplete, garbled, jumbled or delayed computer transmissions which may limit one's ability to enter the contest, including any injury or damage to participant's or any other person's computer relating to or resulting from participating in this contest or downloading any materials in this contest.
The USHMM reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, extend or suspend this contest should (in its sole discretion) virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the contest. In such case, the USHMM will select the winner from all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by the USHMM. The USHMM reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds, in its sole discretion, to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the contest or web site. The USHMM may prohibit an entrant from participating in the contest or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that said entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the contest by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automated quick entry programs) or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrants or USHMM representatives.
CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
JUDGING
The contest will be judged by: actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow; Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson; and John Prendergast, Co-Chair of ENOUGH!
There are three judging divisions for the contest:
- Division I: Op-ed video (open to all)
- Division II: Secondary School students
- Division III: University and Graduate students
For each division, judges evaluate each entry based on the extent to which the editorial:
- Accurately portrays the history, facts, policy, and current situation in Darfur
- Provides an analysis and interpretation of the situation, rather than a retelling of events
- Presents an organized and clear argument to a reader who knows little or nothing about Darfur
- Is grammatically correct
- Uses new and creative techniques to draw in a different audience
- Suggests an innovative approach to what the next US president and others can do to prevent genocide and related crimes against humanity
PRIZES
The panel of human rights experts will select the winners in each division. The Committee on Conscience will then post the first place editorial in each division on its Web site. The winning video will also be broadcast on the Museum's YouTube channel and used in other venues. The first-place winner in each division will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; attend the Days of Remembrance Ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda (April 29-May 1, 2008); tour the Darfur display at the Museum; and meet with human rights experts. The winner in Division II will attend with one parent or guardian (the Museum will cover travel costs for the winner and the parent or guardian). The winner and runner-up in each division will receive a gift certificate to the Museum shop.
The Museum reserves the right not to award prizes in any Division. All entrants will receive a certificate of appreciation.
OP-ED TIPS
- Keep your op-ed short and to the point, 600-800 words. Videos should not exceed three minutes.
- Do your research before writing the article or composing the video.
- Bring something new to the topic; do not just repeat the facts.
- Make sure your content is current.
- If your article relates to something going on in the world (a holiday, a historic date, upcoming event, etc.) you will have a better chance of getting published.
- It is good to be controversial, but do not be outrageous. Be reasonable.
- Feel free to write or speak with a conversational tone. This is not news; it is your opinion, and it should be in your voice.
- Have a clear point of view and express it through your argument.
- Provide insight into the issue. Your article or video should educate the reader.
- Make sure to re-emphasize your position and, if appropriate, your call to action in your conclusion. Leave the readers with a sense of what you want them to take away from your article.
- Use clear and direct language.
- Emphasize active verbs. Adjectives and adverbs are more powerful when used sparingly.
- Avoid clichés.
- Appeal to the average reader. Do not assume that your readers know as much as you do about genocide or related crimes against humanity.
- Include a very short bio, your phone number (cell phone if that is where you are most reachable), e-mail address, and mailing address at the bottom.
- Send to your school or local newspaper's editorial board. The address or e-mail address is usually listed.
LINKS
Links to learn more genocide and related crimes against humanity occurring today:
Links to learn more about what students are doing for Darfur:
USHMM RESOURCES
Helpful tools for writing your article or creating your video:
- Genocide Emergency: Darfur, Sudan
- Overview: The Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Darfur poster series: We are now offering a poster series to help you raise awareness about Darfur in your community.
- Download recent images from Eastern Chad and The Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Photos, by COC Staff Director Jerry Fowler: view the photo essay or download hi-resolution images.
- Photos by Brian Steidle: view the photo essay, hi-resolution image also available.
- "Defying Genocide": a film about how ordinary individuals stood up to genocide in Rwanda.
- "Witnessing Darfur": a DVD with two short films about Darfur, and additional resources to help explain what is happening in Darfur and to help spread the word.
- Voices on Genocide Prevention: The Museum's weekly interview series with experts in the field of genocide.
- Brochure: Responding to Genocide Today
- Genocide Emergency Poster
- Genocide Emergency Alert sheet: basic overview of the conflict and what you can do to help.
CONTACT US
Kadian Pow
Program Officer
Committee on Conscience
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Washington, DC 20037
E-mail: kpow@ushmm.org
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