Submit by March 22, 2024

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The submission period has ended. Thank you to everyone who entered!

CONTEST RULES

All videos should specifically address one of the four Contest Topics listed above.

Eligibility – The contest is open to students in grades 5-12 and college (ages 10-23) at some point during the contest period September 14, 2023-March 22, 2024. No more than one video submission will be accepted for each student. Students may enter both the essay and video contests. Students must be located in North America, Hawaii or at a U.S. military address, and all submissions should be in English. Employees of Stossel in the Classroom, Stossel TV, and Center for Independent Thought, or any person or organization involved in the operation and/or setup of the contest, and their immediate family members are not eligible for this contest. Previous winners of a Stossel in the Classroom first place prize are not eligible for prizes in our subsequent contests.

Video Length and Format – Videos must be no shorter than 1 minute in length and no longer than 3 minutes in length. Videos must be uploaded to somewhere accessible to others, such as YouTube, TikTok, Vimeo, or Google Drive. Make sure your video is not set to Private. You may set it to “Unlisted” on YouTube. Submissions that do not meet these requirements will be disqualified.

Deadline – Videos must be submitted no later than 11:59pm Eastern Time, March 22, 2024.

Plagiarism – All videos must be the original work of the student whose name is listed on the submission form. Using video footage, music, or graphics that exist in the public domain, fall under fair use, or for which you have obtained permission is acceptable.

Taxes – Winners will be solely responsible for any federal, state, or local taxes on winnings.

Judges – Videos will be judged on their ability to answer the topic question in an articulate, clear, and organized manner. Stossel in the Classroom will evaluate video submissions in a fair and unbiased multi-round judging system, in which judges all use the same criteria. Judges will be selected by Stossel in the Classroom based on their backgrounds and expertise in education, media, and the subject matter. Decisions of the judges are final.

Ownership and Use – The ownership of any submission remains the property of the writer, but entry into the competition constitutes the entrant’s permission and consent, without compensation, with or without attribution, for Stossel in the Classroom, Stossel TV, and Center for Independent Thought to use, reproduce, transmit, post, distribute, adapt, edit, and/or display the submission.

TIPS FOR STUDENTS

  • Feel free to think outside the box! In our past contests, we’ve awarded prizes to videos in a variety of genres, including serious video essays, animation, comedy sketches, and even an original music performance. Find what you do best and go for it!
  • Don’t forget the 1-3 minute time requirement. Videos that are under 1 minute or over 3 minutes will be disqualified. Videos that are artificially sped up or slowed down for the purpose of meeting these requirements may be penalized.
  • Make sure your video is not set to Private. It can be set to “Unlisted” on YouTube or “Anyone with a link” on Google Drive, but if it’s set to Private, we will not be able to view it.
  • Don’t wait until the last minute to submit. It takes time to upload a video, and that time could be the difference between meeting the deadline and missing it.

For more tips, don’t miss our Video Contest Guide. It’s full of advice to help you avoid common mistakes.

If you have any questions about our contests, please email us at contests@sitc.org.

We look forward to watching your video. Good luck!