MEDIA NOTE
Twitter Contest Launched and Democracy Video Challenge 2010 Names High-Level Jury
Washington, D.C. – January 12, 2010 – With three weeks remaining until the 2010 entry deadline, the Democracy Video Challenge partners named the independent high-level jury who will select the Challenge’s 21 finalists. Partners also launched a “Tweet about Democracy” contest to expand the global dialogue to new social media platforms.
High-level jury members include:
- Center for International Private Enterprise, Dr. John Sullivan, Executive Director
- International Republican Institute, Lorne Craner, President
- International Youth Foundation, William Reese, Chief Executive Officer
- Motion Picture Association of America, Dan Glickman, President
- National Democratic Institute, Ken Wollack, President
- NBC Universal , Richard Engel, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for NBC News and Kendra Carter, Director Diversity Talent Initiatives and Executive Lead on the Comedy Short Cuts Film Festival
- New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Dean Mary Schmidt Campbell
- Recording Industry Association of America, Mitch Bainwol, Chairman & CEO
- TakingITGlobal, Jennifer Corriero, Co-Founder and Executive Director
- University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Ernest J. Wilson III, Dean of Annenberg
- 2009 Democracy Video Challenge Regional Winners: Chansa Tembo, Africa; Aissa Peñafiel, East Asia and Pacific; Lukasz Szozda, Europe; Tsering Choden, South and Central Asia; Rodin Hamidi, Near East and Anna Israel, Western Hemisphere
Inspired by the first annual Democracy Video Challenge in 2009, the global conversation on democracy is expanding to other social media platforms with a Twitter contest announced today. To enter the contest, Twitter users must become followers of @demvidchallenge and tweet what they believe democracy is in 140 characters or less. The user whose post generates the highest unique number of unique re-tweets will win a Flip Video HD camcorder. The Contest ends January 21, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. EST.
About the Democracy Video Challenge
The Democracy Video Challenge was launched online and at the United Nations on International Democracy Day (September 15, 2008). The Challenge leverages social media to encourage young people to start a global dialogue on democracy by submitting short videos that complete the phrase “Democracy is…” It engages the most connected generation in history and provides a technology-focused creative platform to share, consider, debate and learn from diverse global perspectives on democracy.
Supported by the intellectual and creative contributions of public and private partners from the entertainment industry; new media; academia; and democracy and youth organizations, the 2010 Challenge builds on the success of the inaugural Democracy Video Challenge, which was completed last year. In 2009, people from every region of the world expressed their individual perceptions of the meaning and value of democracy through film. More than 900 video entries were received from 95 countries and more than 1.5 million people engaged in the online conversation.
Challenge partners and participating organizations include the Center for International Private Enterprise, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, the International Youth Foundation, the Motion Picture Association of America, NBC Universal, Recording Industry Association of America, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, TakingITGlobal, University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, the U.S. Department of State, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, and YouTube.
For more information about the worldwide “Democracy Is…” Twitter contest or the Democracy Video Challenge, contact:
Laura Hesselton at 202-632-9933 or via email at democracyvideochallenge@gmail.com.
