WTOP – JUNIOR REPORTER CONTEST 2019
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
BY SUBMITTING A VIDEO AND PHOTO IN THIS CONTEST, ENTRANT HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT SPONSOR MAY USE THE VIDEO AND PHOTO ON SPONSOR’S WEBSITES, INCLUDING SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS, AND IN ANY OTHER MARKETING OR ADVERTISING MATERIALS WITHOUT ENTRANT’S PRIOR APPROVAL OR ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATION.
BY SUBMITTING A VIDEO AND PHOTO IN THIS CONTEST, ENTRANT HEREBY REPRESENTS AND WARRANTS THAT ENTRANT IS THE PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN OF THE CHILD/WARD FEATURED IN THE ENTRY.
1. Eligibility: The WTOP Junior Reporter Contest (the “Contest”) is open only to listeners who are at least 18 years or older, who have a child or ward they are entering into this Contest who attends a public, private or charter elementary, middle or high school (grades K-12) in one of the following areas:
(a) In Maryland: Anne Arundel County, Calvert County, Charles County, Frederick County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and St. Mary’s County;
(b) In Virginia: Arlington County, Culpeper County, Fairfax County, Fauquier County, Loudoun County, Prince William County, Stafford County, Spotsylvania County, City of Alexandria, City of Fairfax, City of Falls Church, City of Manassas, and City of Manassas Park,
OR
(c) in the District of Columbia.
No purchase necessary to enter the Contest. PLEASE NOTE: Any person whose child/ward won in the 2018 WTOP Junior Reporter Contest is not eligible to enter or win in this Contest. Employees of Hubbard Radio Washington D.C., LLC and its station WTOP, 5425 Wisconsin Ave, Fifth Floor, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 (the “Sponsor”), Huntington Learning Center (“Promotional Participant”), Hubbard Radio, LLC, or any of their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, or any other company or individual involved with the design, production, execution or distribution of the Contest (collectively with Sponsor and Promotional Participant, the “Released Parties”) and their immediate family (spouse, parents and step-parents, siblings and step-siblings, and children and step-children) and household members of each such employee are not eligible to enter or win. In order to be eligible to win a prize in this Contest, you cannot have won a prize from Sponsor within 60 days prior to the awarding of a prize to you in this Contest, or more than $600 in prizes in the last year. These restrictions apply even if you reject the prize. Anyone participating in this Contest or claiming a prize in this Contest in violation of these rules will be disqualified from winning a prize in this Contest and from participating in any Sponsor Contest or contests for a period of one year. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Sponsor’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Contest. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.
2. Contest Periods: The Contest will start at 12:00:00 AM Eastern Time (“ET”) on September 30, 2019 and end at 11:59:59 PM ET on November 13, 2019 (the “Contest Period”). The four (4) separate periods as follows:
i. The Entry Period: the entry period shall begin at 12:00:01 AM ET on September 30, 2019 and end at 11:59:59 PM ET on October 20, 2019 (“Entry Period”);
ii. Initial Judging Period: the initial judging period shall begin at 8:00 AM ET on October 21, 2019 and end at 5:00 PM ET on November 1, 2019 (“Initial Judging Period”);
iii. Public Voting Period: a public voting period shall begin at 8:00:00 AM ET on November 2, 2019 and end at 5:00 PM ET on November 10, 2019 (“Public Voting Period”)’ and
iv. Final Judging Period: the final judging period shall begin at or about 9:00 AM ET on November 11, 2019 and end at or about 5:00 PM ET on November 13, 2019 (“Final Judging Period”).
3. HOW TO ENTER: In order to enter, during the Entry Period, click here OR go to www.wtop.com (“Website”), click on the “Junior Reporter” icon or enter “junior reporter” into the search tool, and complete the entry form, which includes your name, telephone number, address and email address, along with your child’s name, child’s school, school district, school principal name and contact, age category of your child (K-5th grade; 6-8th grade; or 9-12th grade, hereinafter, each, a “Category”), along with photo of the child (JPEG, PNG or GIF format, minimum of 300X400 and maximum of 1200×1200) (“Photo”), and a ninety second (:90) video of the child reading a news story of their choosing (“Video”). The entry form, Photo, and Video will collectively be referred to hereinafter as an “Entry.” Only the parent/legal guardian of this child may enter the child in this Contest. Entries will be divided up into the Category the entry coincides with. By entering your child/ward in this Contest, you hereby grant Sponsor the right, title and interest to publicly post the Photo and Video on Sponsor’s website and social media channels at Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion, including but not limited to for public voting purposes. Sponsor is not responsible for problems accessing the website or completing the entry, technical or atmospheric conditions that disrupt the completion of the entry, or any other problems which might or might not result from this contest. Any person submitting an Entry not containing a Photo and Video, or an Entry that does not comply with the requirements set forth in these Official Rules will be disqualified. Please note: by entering, each entrant agrees to receive promotional emails from WTOP and Huntington Learning Center.
4. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: Entrants agree to and understand that the Video and Photo may be made available to the public, including without limitation, posting on the Internet on Sponsor’s and Promotional Participant’s Websites or social media channels, and may appear in Sponsor’s and Promotional Participant’s advertising and marketing materials without notice or compensation to you. Whether or not the Video and Photo is published on the Internet, Sponsor does not covenant or guarantee any confidentiality with respect to any Videos and Photos.
I. Each Video or Photo must be an original creation of the submitting entrant which is under no restriction, contractual or otherwise, that will prevent Sponsor’s use of the Video or Photo and each Video or Photo must be free of any and all liens, encumbrances and claims of third parties. Entrant acknowledges, agrees and warrants that, nothing in the Video or Photo entry infringes on any copyrights, confidential information, trade secrets or trademarks belonging to any person or entity other than the Video entrant absent a suitable license, clearance or permission agreement (proof of which is required upon submission), or violates any person’s rights of privacy or publicity and that all necessary releases and permissions have been secured. Entrant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each of the Released Parties from and against any and all claims, demands, damages, costs, liabilities and causes of action of whatsoever nature that are based upon or arise out of any breach by entrant of these Official Rules or the warranties and representations made by entrant in this paragraph. Modifying, enhancing or altering a third party’s preexisting work does not qualify as entrant’s original creation.
II. By uploading the Video and Photo the entrant agrees, for zero compensation, to grant to Sponsor all intellectual property rights in the Video and Photo and each of its constituent parts, which rights include, without limitation, the Sponsor’s right to publish, make available to the public and/or reproduce the Video and Photo at its sole discretion through any media available at any time during, or after, the Contest Period on any related websites, in any promotional materials, whether related or un-related to the Contest, and at any location, whether physical or online. Entrant agrees to release, defend, indemnify and hold harmless each of Released Parties from all claims, demands, and causes of action of any nature whatsoever which entrant or entrant’s heirs, representatives, executors, administrators, or any other persons acting on entrant’s behalf or on behalf of entrant’s estate, have or may have by reason of: (i) Sponsor’s exercise of any rights granted by entrant in this paragraph; (ii) claims based on violation of any right of publicity or rights of personality, infringement of copyright or trademark, libel, slander, defamation, invasion of privacy, loss of earnings or potential earnings in connection with Sponsor’s use of the Video and Photo and any portion thereof, or the likeness of any natural person therein.
III. Entrants are responsible for securing necessary permissions, talent and location releases, and licenses for any visual material contained in the Video and Photo.
IV. Videos and Photos must not contain material that: (1) contains or depicts someone smoking, intoxicated, or using illegal substances, or any paraphernalia related to any of the above; (2) violates or infringes another’s rights, including without limitation, privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights; (3) contains material that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; (4) contains any unacceptable clothing or adornments, or displays any commercial/corporate advertising other than that of Sponsor (including but not limited to corporate logos, brand names, trademarks, slogans, political, personal and religious statements); (5) contains indecent or unsafe behavior or situations, profanities or obscenities, including but not limited to nudity, or pornography, or is otherwise inappropriate, profane, obscene, hateful, tortious, slanderous or libelous; (6) references persons or organizations without their written permission; (7) disparages any persons or organizations; (8) includes threats to any person, place, business, or group; (9) is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to all applicable federal, state, or local laws and regulations.
Failure of any Video or Photo to comply with the preceding requirements and restrictions, as determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may result in disqualification of entrant’s Entry. Without limitation, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any Entry that, in their sole opinion, refers, depicts or in any way reflects negatively upon the Sponsor, the Contest or any other person or entity, does not comply with these Official Rules or if Sponsor receives notification about any potential infringements or breaches of law or any other reason set forth herein. Videos and Photos must be suitable for presentation in a public forum, in sole determination of Sponsor.
5. HOW WINNER’S ARE CHOSEN
i. Initial Judging: Enter as explained in point #3 above. Then, during the Initial Judging Period, a panel of judges comprised of staff members from WTOP, in their sole discretion, will determine to-be-determined number of the top semi-finalists from each Category from among all eligible Entries received during the Entry Period, using the following judging criteria: complete Entry (i.e., all parameters met including Photo size, Video length, etc) (10%); adherence to the subject matter (25%); quality of Video (20%); accuracy and objectivity of news story in the Video (20%); and creativity of the Entry (25%). The top-scoring Entries using the preceding judging criteria will be deemed the Semi-Finalists and will move on to the Public Voting portion of the Contest. In the event of a tie, the entrant with the highest score in the creativity category will be deemed the Semi-Finalist from among all tying Entries. Sponsor reserves the right to select Semi-Finalists from any Category in the event not enough sufficient Entries are received during the Entry Period. Each Semi-Finalist’s Photo and Video will be posted on the Website.
ii. Public Voting: Then, during the Public Voting Period, members of the public can visit the Website and cast their vote for their favorite Semi-Finalist in each Category (each, a “Vote”). Limit of one (1) Vote per person per day during the Public Voting Period. Sponsor is not responsible for Votes not received or for other difficulties with the voting system due to difficulty accessing the internet, service outages or delay, computer difficulties or malfunctions, or other technological problems. Votes generated by script, macro, bot, fraud, or other automated means will be disqualified and not count. No one may offer to sell Votes (or offer to be paid, whether in currency, in kind or other form of compensation, for Votes). The use of automated or third party software or website to participate in the Voting is prohibited. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any Votes, or the entrant, cast in violation of the above restrictions. The ten (10) Semi-Finalists from each Category with the most Votes will then be deemed Finalists and will move on to the Final Judging Period. In the event of a tie, the Finalist will be the Entry that received the highest score during the Initial Judging Period from among all tying Semi-Finalists. Sponsor reserves the right to select less or more than 10 Finalists from any Category in the event not enough sufficient Semi-Finalists are moved into the Public Voting Period. By Voting, each voter agrees to receive promotional emails from WTOP and Huntington Learning Center.
iii. Final Judging: Then, during the Final Judging Period, a panel of judges comprised of staff members from WTOP, in their sole discretion, will determine the top Winners from each Category from among all eligible Finalists using the following judging criteria: adherence to the subject matter (15%); quality of Video (30%); accuracy and objectivity of news story in the Video (20%) and creativity in the Entry (35%). The top-scoring Finalist in each Category using the preceding judging criteria will be deemed the Winners of the Contest (one per Category). In the event of a tie, the Finalist with the highest score in the creativity category will be deemed the Winner from among all tying Finalists. Sponsor reserves the right to select less than 3 Winners (one from each Category) in the event not enough sufficient Finalists have moved on to the Final Judging Period.
6. CLAIMING YOUR PRIZE: The winner must claim his/her prize in person at the WTOP Studios located at 5425 Wisconsin Ave, Fifth Floor, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 during normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) prior to November 30, 2019. Failure to comply with this deadline shall be deemed to be the winner’s forfeiture of his or her right to claim a prize. The winner’s parent or guardian must present identification acceptable to WTOP (e.g., state drivers license; state issued identification card; valid passport with address verification; or birth certificate with social security card and photo identification and address verification). If a qualified winner cannot prove he or she is qualified to accept the prize, the prize will not be awarded. Any unclaimed prize remains the property of WTOP.
7. PRIZES: Three (3) Grand Prizes (1 Prize Winner per Category): A $1,000.00 check to the Winner’s school listed on the Winner’s Entry; $1,000.00 for the Winning Child; a tour of the WTOP Studios and the chance to be recorded and featured on-air and on WTOP.com on an agreed upon date within 6 months of being named a Winner; and an MP3 of any recordings sent to Winner’s parent/legal guardian. Winners must be accompanied by his/her parent/legal guardian for the in-studio portion of the Prize. ARV: $2,000.00 each.
A qualified Winner’s parent/legal guardian must also meet the eligibility requirements as set forth in Paragraph 1 of these rules. The Winner’s parent/legal guardian is responsible for paying all applicable income taxes. A 1099 form may be submitted to all appropriate taxing authorities, and by signing the Prize Releases, each Winner’s parent/legal guardian accepts the Prize on behalf of their minor child/ward and will be responsible for the applicable taxes.
8. Privacy/Data Practices: Information provided by you for this Contest on the entry form, including Video and Photo is subject to Sponsor’s Privacy Policy: http://corporate.hubbardradio.com/privacy-policy/. By entering this Contest, each entrant agrees that the Sponsor has the right to contact the entrant by phone or email accounts provided on the entry form to administer and fulfill this Contest.
9. Entry Conditions and Release: By entering, each entrant agrees to: (a) comply with and be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor which are binding and final in all matters relating to this Contest; (b) release and hold harmless Sponsor from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, including but not limited to invasion of privacy (under appropriation, intrusion, public disclosure of private facts, false light in the public eye or other legal theory), defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights, property damage, or death or personal injury arising out of or relating to a participant’s entry, creation of an entry or submission of an entry, participation in the Contest, acceptance or use or misuse of prize and/or the broadcast, exploitation or use of entry; and (c) indemnify, defend and hold harmless Sponsor and Huntington Learning Center from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorney’s fees) arising out of or relating to an entrant’s participation in the Contest and/or winning school’s acceptance, use or misuse of prize.
10. General Conditions: Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest, or any part of it, for any reason whatsoever, including, without limitation, fire, flood, natural or man-made epidemic of health or other means, earthquake, explosion, labor dispute or strike, act of God or public enemy, satellite or equipment failure, riot or civil disturbance, terrorist threat or activity, war (declared or undeclared), or any federal, state or local government law, order, or regulation, public health crisis, order of any court or jurisdiction or if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Contest, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. If the Contest is terminated before the designated end date, Sponsor will (if possible) select the Winners during a modified public voting period as determined solely by Sponsor, or via a random drawing from all eligible, non-suspect entries received as of the date of the event giving rise to the termination. Inclusion in such voting or random drawing shall be each entrant’s sole and exclusive remedy under such circumstances. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or any other promotion or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Only the type and quantity of prizes described in these Official Rules will be awarded. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, these rules shall otherwise remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained herein. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.
11. Limitations of Liability. Sponsor and Huntington Learning Center are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Contest; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest or the processing of entries; or (5) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any Prize. If for any reason an Entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, entrant’s sole remedy is another Entry in the Contest. Entrant further agrees and acknowledges that Sponsor reserves the right to forfeit or award any unclaimed or leftover Prize at its sole discretion.
12. Disputes/Governing Law. Entrant agrees that: (i) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, other than those concerning the administration of the Contest or the determination of Winners or for any disputes arising from the loss or injury from the participation in a Prize, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; (ii) any disputes arising out of these Official Rules (except for any disputes arising from the loss or injury from the use of Prizes) shall be submitted to final, binding arbitration conducted in Minneapolis, MN under the Arbitration Rules and Procedures of the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services Inc. before a single, neutral arbitrator who is a former or retired Minnesota state or federal court judge with experience in entertainment matters who shall follow Minnesota law and the Federal Rules of Evidence and have no authority to award punitive damages. Either party may enforce a final arbitration award in any court of competent jurisdiction in Hennepin County, including an award of costs, fees and expenses incurred in enforcing the award. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Released Parties shall be entitled to seek injunctive relief (unless otherwise precluded by any other provision of these Official Rules) in the state and federal courts of Minnesota. Any dispute or portion thereof, or any claim for a particular form of relief (not otherwise precluded by any other provision of these Official Rules), that may not be arbitrated pursuant to applicable state or federal law may be heard only in a court of competent jurisdiction in Minnesota; (iii) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of- pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this Contest, but in no event attorneys’ fees; and (iv) under no circumstances will entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out- of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the entrant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Minnesota, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of Minnesota or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Minnesota.
13. Winner’s List/Official Rules: For names of the winning schools, the first name of the Winner, or a copy of these official rules, see our Website.
14. Sponsor: Hubbard Radio Washington DC, LLC and its station WTOP, 5425 Wisconsin Ave, Fifth Floor, Chevy Chase, MD 20815.
