KQED Youth Media Challenge: How Are You Stepping Up?

KQED and the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC)’s Youth Media Challenge asks teens to create video, audio, or writing sharing how they’ve stepped up to take action on an issue they’re passionate about.

 
Do you have a story about how you’ve ‘stepped up’ to take action on an issue you’re passionate about? Whether a big action or small, we want to hear about it!

Get a chance to be published on KQED’s website and be screened at a KQED-hosted media festival in January! Read on for all the details on how to submit.

What’s the Deal?

This year, the Lowdown sought out Bay Area students who have dedicated a significant chunk of their high school experience to fighting for a cause. We looked for a diverse array of young activists from different backgrounds who were willing to share their unique personal stories and explain why they became passionate about a specific issue. Now we want to hear from YOU!

Maybe you were motivated by a specific program or club you joined, like Nautika, Veronica S., and Veronica F. were. Maybe you started your own club in response to the issues around you, like Walter. Maybe you’re not part of a program or club, but every time you see a piece of litter on the ground, you make a point to pick it up, or when you see someone being bullied or someone using demeaning language, you speak up.

However big or small an action, we want to hear from you!

The Challenge – How Are You Stepping Up?

Have you ever felt so passionately about an issue that it spurred you to action? In a video, audio, or written piece, tell us about the issue or event that sparked you to act, and what you are doing about it.

Selected works will be published on our website, and a small number of the media makers located in the Bay Area will be invited to participate in a public screening in San Francisco.

Submit your work by Friday, December 1, 2017.

Submission Guidelines

• Open to youth ages 13-18. We welcome individual and group submissions (up to three youth per group). Those who share an experience and story around the same issue (for example, volunteer at the same program together, co-founded a club together, etc.) are eligible to submit a media piece as a group as long as all participant voices are represented.
• The time limit for video and audio pieces is 3 minutes. Video and audio pieces must be hosted on a shareable platform (YouTube, Vimeo, Soundcloud, etc.) to be considered.
• The word limit for written pieces is 400 words. (Written pieces can be emailed as a PDF file, or hosted on a shareable platform like Google Docs. If using Google Docs, please put settings to “View Only”.)

Note for video submissions: while videos must include your voice and story, visuals are not limited to or required to feature you personally on camera. We welcome animation, photo montages and other creative visual storytelling tools!

Challenge Timeline

Submission Deadline: Friday, December 1, 2017

Youth Media Makers Notified of Selections: Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Public Screening in San Francisco with selected Media Makers: Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Selected Works Published on KQED Website: Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Virtual Screening of Media Selections: Thursday, January 18, 2018

Submitting a piece does not guarantee you will be selected. We receive more submissions than we have the capacity to publish. You will be notified by email if your submission is selected.

Questions? Email our Youth Media team at youthmedia@kqed.org. Note: We will not reply to questions regarding the status of your submission.

Originally Posted at KQED Education