Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards

1. Definitions

1.1. Contest means a competition between multiple individuals in the field of war and humanitarian journalism, organized in order to identify the most outstanding Participants and journalistic Works. The full title of the Contest is Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Award 2023. For the purposes of these Terms, the term Contest shall stand for any activities and events in the preparation and holding of the Contest, including, but not limited to, submission of the Works for participation in the Contest, activities of the Jury, press conferences, awards ceremonies, etc.
1.2. Jury means a group of individuals invited by the Organizer to select the best Works and adjudicate the Contest.
1.3. Participant, or Contest Participant, means an individual who meets the requirements specified in these Terms and who has submitted their Work for participation in the Contest in accordance with the procedure set by these Terms.
1.4. Website means www.award.rt.com.
1.5. Work(s) mean(s) texts or audiovisual materials, as defined herein, submitted by the Participant for participation in the Contest, earlier published in Media, as well as original materials published on social media platforms or blogs dedicated to war and humanitarian journalism.
1.6. Organizer, or Contest Organizer, means the Autonomous Non-Profit Organization “TV-Novosti”, with its registered office at 3 Borovaya St., Building 1, Moscow, 111020, Russia (OGRN (state registration number): 1057746595367, INN (taхpayer ID number): 7704552473).
1.7. Winner means a Participant whose Work was recognized by the Jury as the best in at least one of the categories.
1.8. Contest Terms, or Terms, mean the present Terms of Participation in the Contest, as published on the Website, which determine the procedures and activities of the Contest, the general criteria for the selection of Works, the conditions for participating in the Contest, etc.
1.9. Award means the winner’s certificate indicating the award category, and the commemorative items or prizes, to be awarded to the Winners.
1.10. Media means periodical print publications, digital publications, TV and radio channels, television programs, radio programs, video programs, newsreel programs and any other form of periodic information distribution performed by a company acting under an unchanging brand (name).
1.11. Armed conflict zone means a region exposed to continuous armed confrontation between two or more groups of people, often involving the local government’s armed forces and private armed groups.
1.12. Prize means a cash prize specified in Section 11 of the Contest Terms.
1.13. War journalism means a genre of journalism aimed at covering combat operations (wars, counterterrorism operations, ethnic and sectarian conflicts), which also includes the State’s press policy during combat operations.
1.14. Humanitarian journalism means a genre of journalism that covers events related to human beings and their lives in society.

2. General Provisions

2.1. The Contest is held in accordance with Russian law, in compliance with the rules for open public competitions.
2.2. The Contest is held without charging Participants in any form.
2.3. Selection of the Winners is not random. The Contest is not a lottery.
2.4. Participation in the Contest is voluntary and assumes full compliance of the Participants with the Contest Terms.
2.5. The Organizer has the right to unilaterally alter the Contest Terms during the first half of the period provided for the submission of Works. Any changes to the Terms will be published on the Website and take effect from the moment they are published.

3. Purpose of the Contest

3.1. The purpose of the Contest is to identify the most outstanding Participants and Works in the field of war and humanitarian journalism.

4. Goals of the Contest

4.1. To perpetuate the memory of journalist Khaled Alkhateb who died while working in a conflict zone in Syria. Khaled worked with RT Arabic and was posthumously awarded a Medal for Courage.
4.2. To support war and humanitarian journalism and professionals engaged in these fields.

5. Participants

5.1. Any physical person of age and fully capable under the law can participate in the Contest.
5.2. Neither Organizer’s employees, representatives, affiliated persons or family members thereof, nor employees or representatives of any third parties directly involved in the Contest’s organization or holding can participate in the Contest.
5.3. Taking participation in the Contest imply the Participant agrees, without any restrictions on the terms and methods of use and without receiving any remuneration, to grant the Organizer, as well as any third parties so authorized and/or licensed by the Organizer, his/her full consent to use the images of the Participant contained in the photo and video materials provided by the Participant to the Organizer (including the Work(s) of the Participant), as well as photo and video materials created by the Organizer or any third parties following the Organizer’s order, as part of the preparation for and holding of the Contest, including but not limited to photo and video interviews with the participants of the Contest, press conferences, awarding ceremonies and other activities/events of the Organizer/third parties of the Organizer within the framework of the Contest. The Participant undertakes to provide the Organizer with his/her written consent to use his/her image on the terms stipulated by this Clause of the Contest Terms, at the Organizer’s request.
5.4. The Participant recognized as the Contest Winner also undertakes, at the Organizer’s request, to participate free of charge in interviews, photo and video shooting of the Participant, and to transfer to the Organizer the right to use all copyright- and/or related rights-protected objects created by the Participant in the process of the interviewing, photo and video shooting of, the Participant in any way permitted by Russian law worldwide and throughout the term of the exclusive right to the abovementioned intellectual property of the Participant, as created, effective the date of their creation. Therewith, the Contest Participant shall also give his/her consent to the Organizer to make public, to use anonymously (without specifying the name/pseudonym of the Participant) the abovementioned intellectual property of the Participant, as well as to modifying such intellectual property in any way and by any means. The Participant shall also give his/her consent to the separate use of sound and image fixed in the abovementioned intellectual property, as well as to the Organizer’s granting sublicenses to third parties. The Organizer shall have the right not to provide any reports on the use of the abovementioned intellectual property.
5.5. The Organizer reserves the right at any time to terminate any Participant’s participation in the Contest, to cancel their application or to disregard a Participant’s results during the selection process at its discretion and without having to substantiate such decision if, in the Organizer’s opinion, such Participant has violated these Contest Terms. In case of such termination, the Organizer reserves the right not to provide any clarifications or send any notifications.
5.6. When sending a job to participate in the Contest, the Participant must read and agree to the Contest Terms. The Contest Terms are a public offer made by the Organizer to all potential Contest Participants. By performing the actions stipulated in Section 9 of the Contest Terms, the Participant unconditionally agrees to the Contest Terms (i.e. accepts the offer).
5.7. By uploading the Work to the Website, the Participant agrees to grant the Organizer a free simple (non-exclusive) worldwide license valid throughout the term of the exclusive rights to the Work, enabling the Organizer to use, and provide any third parties with the right to use, the Work or any part thereof in the following ways – via playing back and/or distributing the Work or producing any derivatives thereof; subtitling, duplicating, translating the Work into any languages (if applicable); changing the Work’s format and/or other technical parameters, soundtrack and/or timing and/or framing (if applicable); incorporating the Work (or, in case of audiovisual materials, no more than One hundred and fifty (150) seconds of the Work) into, and using the same as part of, any television programs and/or complex objects and/or editorials and/or information articles, or any other materials or works created by the Organizer or following its order; broadcasting or rebroadcasting the Work via satellite and/or cable networks (in case of audiovisual materials, no more than One hundred and fifty (150) seconds of the Work); making the Work available to the public (in case of audiovisual materials, no more than One hundred and fifty (150) seconds of the Work); applying the Organizer’s logo and/or (rolling) ticker, captions and/or other graphic objects at the Organizer’s choice, and adding prefaces, afterword, comments or any explanations whatsoever to the Work.
The exclusive right to any new Works created by the Organizer or any third parties, given the consent of the Organizer or on behalf of the latter, based on the Participant’s Work shall belong to the Organizer.
The Organizer may transfer and/or sublicense the right to use the Work, as stipulated by this Clause hereof, to any third parties without having to pay any additional remuneration to the Participant.
The right to use the work transferred to the Organizer includes, among other things, the right to separate use of sound and video fixed in the Work and/or its fragments, separate use of the Work’s individual frames (if applicable), permission of the participant not to provide reports on the use of the work.
5.8. The Participant shall ensure that he/she has obtained all the rights and licenses necessary for providing the Organizer with a non-exclusive license to use his/her Work (including consents of all interested parties and/or bodies of authority, if such are required under the applicable law). The Organizer may at any time request a confirmation of the Participant’s rights/licenses for granting the Organizer the rights to the Work.
5.9. Participant hereby represents and warrants that he/she has the rights necessary to enable the Organizer to use the Work under this Section of the Contest Terms, including the right to transfer it to third parties. Participant hereby warrants that neither the Work as a whole, nor any of its parts will violate any property rights, copyrights, associated rights, personal non-property rights, contractual rights and any other rights of any third parties, nor will harm any such parties’ honor, dignity, or business reputation, and that the Participant has obtained consent of the persons whose images are part of the Work, to have their images so used. The Participant warrants that in the event of any demands, claims and/or lawsuits filed by any third parties challenging the Organizer’s right to use the Work as stipulated by this Section of the Contest Terms, or arising from the Participant’s violation of warranties under these Contest Terms, the Organizer shall not be liable to any of them, and the Participant shall have to settle those demands, claims and/or lawsuits on his/her own and at his/her own expense.
5.10. Participant hereby warrants that Organizer and/or third parties so authorized by the Organizer can use the Work as they see fit without being obligated to give any copyright credits or credit the author(s) of the Work(s) or any other rightholders of the intellectual property used in the Work.
5.11. Participant hereby warrants that all the information and facts presented in their Work are reliable and true.
5.12. Participant hereby warrants that in case the Work is a product of a joint effort of multiple authors, the Participant has obtained all necessary permissions enabling him/her to submit this Work to the Contest as his/her own and enabling the Organizer to use the Work as per Clause 5.7 of the Contest Terms.

6. Contest Award Categories

6.1. Category #1 – Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone.
6.2. Category #2 – Best Written Journalism from a Conflict Zone.
6.3. Category #3 – Best Humanitarian Video Journalism.
6.4. Category #4 – Best Humanitarian Written Journalism.
6.5. One Winner will be determined in each category. The Organizer has the right to determine more than one Winner at their discretion.
If no Works meeting the Contest requirements are submitted, there will be no Winner in a category.

7. Contest Period

7.1. The Contest will be held in the Russian Federation from July 30, 2023 to December 31, 2023, comprising the following stages:
- 7.1.1. The period for submitting applications for participation in the Contest is determined from July 30, 2023 to October 31, 2023.
- 7.1.2. The period for determining the winners of the Contest from November 1, 2023 to December 15, 2023.
- 7.1.3. The date for awarding the prize shall be determined by the Organizer together with the winner of the Contest in the period from December 15, 2023 to December 31, 2023.
7.2. The Contest results containing information on the Winners will be published on the Website and Organizer’s social media pages before December 31, 2023.

8. Eligibility Requirements

8.1. The Work to be submitted for the Contest must have been published on a media platform or in social media or blogs from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023.
8.2. Each Participant can submit only one Work for each category.
8.3. No Works can be submitted that have been presented to the previous contest under name of Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards.
8.4. The Work must have been created by the Participant while being in an armed conflict zone, or post-war territory, or immediately adjacent to the characters of the Work.
8.5. Works can be submitted from any country of the world and any continent.
8.6. Works must be submitted in the original language. All written Works must be accompanied by an English translation, and all video Works must have English subtitles, as well as dialog continuities with a full transcript of all narration, live videos and syncs and an English translation (transcript) thereof.
8.7. Works that are the product of a collaborative effort and/or joint creative work (whether in written form or audiovisual format) must contain the names of all the authors and contributors, the exact title of the entire Work and the titles of all the parts it is made up of, and/or the titles of stories/works incorporated into the Work. Such Work must be accompanied by the consent of all its co-authors.
8.8. Works cannot include:
- graphics or texts that are insulting to the feelings of believers;
- strong language, vernacular, obscene and rude expressions and all phrases that contain them;
- unethical images, erotic and/or pornographic information;
- indecent and/or insulting images related to anything including sex, race, ethnicity, profession, social background, age, human language, official state symbols (national flag, emblem or anthem), religious symbols, or objects of cultural heritage (historical and cultural monuments and landmarks) of peoples;
- calls for violence, propaganda of terrorism, extremism, fascism, or anything inciting inter-ethnic, racial, religious or other discord;
- images or texts that favor or promote drugs, alcohol, smoking, pharmaceuticals and weapons;
- commercials;
- information or images that can hurt honor and dignity of other Participants or third parties;
- any other information or images that violate the laws of the Russian Federation or are prohibited by them from posting/showing.
8.9. Works that fail to meet the above-stated requirements and Works that infringe on the rights of third parties or violate any of these Contest Terms will not be accepted for the Contest.
8.10. In case any unauthorized borrowings or plagiarisms are found in the Works submitted for the Contest, such Works will be banned from the Contest. The Organizer reserves the right to check the authorship and singularity of any Work in any manner whatsoever.
8.11. All information and facts provided in the Work should be credible and accurate.
8.12. The Organizer/Jury shall decide whether the Work is compliant with these Contest Terms and/or the laws of the Russian Federation, at its/their own discretion.
8.13. When submitting his/her Work for the Contest, the Participant agrees that the Organizer retains the right to reject any Work without having to give explanations, if the Work violates the laws of the Russian Federation and/or fails to meet the requirements of the Contest Terms and/or any other criteria under the Contest. The Organizer shall decide, at its discretion, whether any Work submitted for the Contest meets the requirements of the Contest Terms.

9. Contest Procedure

9.1. In order to qualify for the Contest, the Participant has to do the following:
- 9.1.1. fill out the Participant’s application form available on the Website (www.award.rt.com);
- 9.1.2. submit the Work for the Contest in accordance with the following procedure and technical requirements:
- 9.1.2.1. To submit a Work for the Best Video Journalism from a Conflict Zone category, the Participant needs to do the following:
  - upload a video – a news report, story, or coverage of the current event – to the Youtube platform (at youtube.com), to the Participant’s account. The file size must not exceed 1 GB. The video can be uploaded in any language, and if the original language is not English, English subtitles must be added to the video. The video must meet the following technical requirements: Container Format: MP4, Video Codec: H.264, Audio Codec: AAC, Frames per Second (FPS): 25, 30, Video Resolution: 720p, Video Aspect Ratio: 16:9, Bitrate: 5 Mbps, Stereo Audio Bitrate: 384 kbps, Audio Bitrate (5.1): 512 kbps;
  - fill out the appropriate form available at the Website, indicating a Youtube link to the video; a separate MS Word document containing the full video script – in the original language and in English (subtitles);
  - at the Organizer’s request, provide a digital scan of the letter from the Media outlet that has published the Work in question, containing the following representations: the Work was published in the Media from January 1, 2022 to October 31, 2023 the Media, being the copyright holder for the Work (if applicable), has granted the Participant the right to use the Work to the extent outlined in Clause 5.7 of the Contest Terms.
- 9.1.2.2. To submit a Work for the Best Written Journalism from a Conflict Zone category, the Participant needs to do the following:
  - upload the Work in Word format and its translation into English to the corresponding form on the Website. The text should not exceed 10,000 words. If the Work is a part of a continuing news story, a compilation of up to five (5) stories can be submitted;
  - make a photo of the printed Media edition wherein the Work was published (the cover, the page with the release data of such printed Media edition, and the pages whereon the Work was published in the said Media) or a screenshot of the web pages of online Media, social media platform or blog, dedicated to war journalism, which contain the Work, then upload the photo or screenshot to an appropriate form on the Website;
  - upload the link to the web page belonging to the digital Media outlet that published the Work to a specially designated form available on the Website, or upload the photos of the printed Media edition as specified above;
  - at the Organizer’s request, provide a digital scan of the letter from the Media outlet that has published the Work in question, containing the following representations: the Work was published in the Media from January 1, 2022 to October 31, 2023; the Media, being the copyright holder for the Work (if applicable), has granted the Participant the right to use the Work to the extent outlined in Clause 5.7 of the Contest Terms.
- 9.1.2.3. To submit a Work for the Best Humanitarian Video Journalism category, the Participant needs to do the following:
  - upload a video – a news report, or story – to the Youtube platform (at youtube.com), to the Participant’s account. The file size must not exceed 1 GB. The video can be uploaded in any language, and if the original language is not English, English subtitles must be added to the video. The video must meet the following technical requirements: Container Format: MP4, Video Codec: H.264, Audio Codec: AAC, Frames per Second (FPS): 25, 30, Video Resolution: 720p, Video Aspect Ratio: 16:9, Bitrate: 5 Mbps, Stereo Audio Bitrate: 384 kbps, Audio Bitrate (5.1): 512 kbps;
  - fill out the appropriate form available at the Website, indicating a Youtube link to the video; a separate MS Word document containing the full video script – in the original language and in English (subtitles);
  - at the Organizer’s request, provide a digital scan of the letter from the Media outlet that has published the Work in question, containing the following representations: the Work was published in the Media from January 1, 2022 to 31 October, 2023; the Media, being the copyright holder for the Work (if applicable), has granted the Participant the right to use the Work to the extent outlined in Clause 5.7 of the Contest Terms.
- 9.1.2.4. To submit a Work for the Best Humanitarian Written Journalism category, the Participant needs to do the following:
  - upload the Work in Word format and its translation into English to the corresponding form on the Website. The text should not exceed 10,000 words. If the Work is a part of a continuing news story, a compilation of five (5) stories can be submitted;
  - make a photo of the printed Media edition, or a screenshot of the web page, which contain the Work, then upload the photo or screenshot to an appropriate form on the Website;
  - upload the link to the web page belonging to the digital Media outlet that published the Work to the appropriate form on the Website;
  - at the Organizer’s request, provide a digital scanned copy of the letter from the Media outlet having published the Work, containing the following representations: the Work was published in the Media from January 1, 2022 to October 31, 2023; the Media, being the copyright holder for the Work (if applicable), has granted the Participant the right to use the Work to the extent outlined in Clause 5.7 of the Contest Terms.
9.2. Each Participant can upload only one Work in each category. After the Work is uploaded to the Website, no changes may be made to the Work.
9.3. Each Work is given a unique registration number; the Participant’s code and the Work’s number are used to identify the Work during the Jury adjudicating and voting process. The real names of the Participants are not disclosed to the Jury before Winners are determined.

10. Jury and Evaluation

10.1. The Jury consists of leading experts in the field of journalism. The list of Jury members is published on the Website.
10.2. The Jury evaluates the Works and decides the Winners of the Contest, based on each Jury member’s personal and subjective assessment of the Works, according to the following criteria: originality, consistency, creativity, and compliance with the subject matter/category of the Contest. The jurors are independent in their judgments. Any attempts to influence the decisions of the Jury are prohibited.
10.3. The Jury decides the Winners in each category. The voting procedure is determined by the voting method used by the Jury.
10.4. The criterion for the Winner selection is the number of votes from the Jury members.
10.5. The Jury has the right to decide that no Winner is determined.

11. Prize Fund

11.1 The total prize fund of the Contest is RUB Eight hundred thousand (800,000) rubles. *
11.2 The Prize for winning each category is Two hundred thousand (200,000) rubles. *

*The amount of money to be paid to the Winners as a Prize after withholding taxes in the amount stipulated by applicable law of the Russian Federation.

12. Awarding Procedure and Timeframes

12.1. The Organizer of the Contest shall contact the Winners no later than fourteen (14) days after summarizing the Contest results and inform them of the information and documents they need to provide in order to receive the Award and the Prize.
12.2. The procedure for receiving the Award depends on the Winner’s place of residence and shall be discussed with each individual Winner after the announcement of the Contest results.
12.3. In order to receive the Award and the Prize, the Winner must provide the Organizer with the following information within fourteen (14) days: photo and personal data (full name, mobile phone number, email, national passport details, residential address, bank account details, and taxpayer ID number). Should transfer of the funds to the details provided by the winner for the reasons beyond the control of the Organizer cannot be effected, the winner undertakes to provide the organizer with account details for payment in the banks or organizations specified by the Organizer.
12.4. The Prize will be transferred to the Winner’s account not later than fifty (50) days from the date the relevant information is submitted.
12.5. The Organizer reserves the right to request additional documents and information from the Winners, as may be necessary for delivering the Award and the Prize.
12.6. The Organizer reserves the right to contact the Winner as many times as required to clarify any details provided.
12.7. The Winner can reject the Award and/or Prize, at any time before the same is/are distributed, by so notifying the Organizer by email and ensuring the delivery of the letter containing the notification of such rejection to the Organizer’s postal address. The notification must contain the Winner’s full name, national passport details and a written rejection of the Award and/or the Prize, including date and handwritten signature of the Winner.
12.8. The Award cannot be replaced. In case of one or multiple Winners rejecting the Award, the Organizer reserves the right to use the Award at its discretion.
12.9. The Prize cannot be replaced. In case of one or multiple Winners rejecting the Prize, the Organizer reserves the right to use the Prize at its discretion.

13. Responsibilities of Participants and Organizer

13.1. The Organizer of the Contest shall ensure confidentiality of personal data received from the Participants for the purposes of the Contest and ensure security of the personal data during its processing as part of its obligations under the Terms and in accordance with the (Russian) Federal Law No. 152-FZ “On Personal Data” of July 27, 2006.
13.2. Participants shall be responsible for complying with the requirements regarding reliability of the information entered by them when registering for the Contest and submitting the Works, as well as the information contained in the Works, translations of the same and parts thereof, as set forth herein. In case of violation, the Organizer may ban the Participant from participating in the Contest and/or cancel the Jury’s decision to select the Participant as Winner.
13.3. The Organizer shall not be held liable for:
- failures or malfunctions in the functioning of computer networks, communication networks or data transmission networks;
- technical failures or malfunctions on the Website, in case they have occurred through no fault of the Organizer;
- copying and distributing the Works from the Website pages by third parties;
- the Participants being unable to find or view the list of the Winners for any reasons unrelated to the Organizer;
- not receiving (or receiving too late) the information necessary to award the Winners through the fault of the Participants, because of technical failures on the side of communication providers or due to any other reasons beyond the control of the Organizer;
- non-fulfillment (late fulfilment) by the Participants of the requirements stipulated by the Terms;
- non-receipt by the Winners of the Contest of the Prize or Award in case of non-claiming the same within the timeframes specified in the Terms or rejecting the same;
- untimely receipt or non-receipt of the Prize/Award by the Winners of the Contest in cases where this proved impossible due to circumstances beyond reasonable control and beyond the will of the Organizer that arose both before and after the Contest, including natural disasters (earthquake, flood, and hurricane), fire, mass diseases (epidemics), strikes, military actions, terrorist attacks, sabotage, transportation restrictions, prohibitive, restrictive measures (acts) of states (introduction of trade embargo, prohibition of trade operations, other sanctions, and other measures) and other force majeure circumstances;
- life, health, emotional distress and/or any injuries suffered by the Participants in connection to their participation in the Contest.

14. Final Provisions

14.1. Works submitted for the Contest shall neither be returned nor reviewed.
14.2. By accepting these Terms the Participant acknowledges and agrees that the information he/she provided about him-/herself and the Work, as well as all the information contained in the Work, the translations of the Work and parts thereof, as set forth herein, is reliable and true.
14.3. The Participant understands and agrees to bear all the costs arousing from his/her participation in the Contest (including but not limited to Internet access costs), except for those costs that are explicitly outlined in these Terms as those covered by the Organizer.
14.4. All outstanding issues pertaining to the Contest shall be governed by Russian law. All disputes or disagreements as may arise between the Organizer and Participants shall be tried in the court where the Organizer is situated, in full compliance with the procedural and substantive law of the Russian Federation.

15. Personal Data

15.1. Participants of the Contest provide the Organizer with their personal data that they enter in the registration form (including the Participant’s application form).
15.2. By taking part in the Contest, Participant shall be deemed to accept the terms and conditions of the privacy policy regarding personal data of the Participant, posted on the Website, as well as all terms and conditions of all documents specified therein, in their entirety and without any exceptions or reservations.

Terms of Participation in Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Award 2023

Terms of Participation in
Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Award 2023