2026 Audio Competition Rules | BEA - The Broadcast Education Association
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Spring  Audio Competition #BEAudioStories

Competition Rules

Questions

Direct all questions to J-D Boyle

Email: JD@beaweb.org

  1. Times and Dates
  • The BEAAudio Stories Competition (“Competition”) is open to teams

(hereinafter “teams,” “groups” or “Entrants”) from BEA Institutional member schools and Student Media Clubs (BEASMC)

chapters. Each BEA Student Media Club may have multiple teams participating in the

competition.

  • The BEA  Audio Stories Competition will send out the official information to signed up teams at 12:00 pm ET on April 3rd
  • Teams that wish to participate must submit a team application to the organizers by 11:59 p.m. EST, Wednesday, April ist .
  • The participating group/team must complete its audio story in time to upload it to the competition site on Friday, April 10th by Midnight ET.
  • Only works that meet the deadline will be eligible to win the competition.

Teams providing late submissions are advised to email JD@BEAweb.org with an explanation of reasons for the late submission.

All audios from each campus will be judged by a BEA peer-review panel, with an announcement of the winner taking place in April/May 2026.

  1. Creative Work

❏ ALL CREATIVE WORK MUST BE DONE WITHIN THE “Official #BEAudioStories Time

Period”. “Creative work” is defined as:

  • Writing the script
  • Rehearsing & Narration
  • Editing
  • Sound Design
  • Mixdown
  • Exporting media in a form for submission to BEA.

III. Pre-Competition Work

❏ The only work to begin prior to the “Official #BEAudioStories Time Period” is:

  • Organizing Crew
  • Organizing Cast
  • Securing Equipment
  1. Kickoff

❏ Teams from BEA Student Media Clubs that wish to participate must submit a team application via the BEA Audio Stories submission site by 11:59 p.m. EST, Wednesday,

April 1st .

❏ The assignment email will be sent to the email address provided by the team captain on the entry form.

  1. Content Requirements

❏ Teams must submit AUDIO STORIES.

 

You will receive more information on the points listed above, as well as upload instructions by 12:00 p.m. (your local time) on Friday, April 3rd .

VII. Student Status

❏ All members of the production crew must be students at the BEA institutions.

  • Any actors in the audio don’t have to be affiliated with the University. However,

these actors still count as team members.

VIII. Team Size

❏ Each team must have a minimum of three members in order to be eligible to compete in the

#BEAudioStories competition. A maximum of five members will also be enforced. All

members must be listed on the competition registration form before the start of the

competition.

  1. Recording Device Use

❏ Any type of recording device may be used.

  1. Music/Sound

❏ Participating groups may use music/sound effects.

  1. Total Running Time

❏ 30 second commercial

XII. Credits/Slates

 

XIII. Submission Requirements

❏ Submissions must be uploaded by each team to the submission site.

❏ Notes on submissions:

  • We recommend that you make sound levels relatively even throughout your audio.

(If your audio has uneven sound or sound that peaks, it may be modified to protect

the playback equipment.)

  • Only those audio documentaries submitted prior to or at the deadline will be eligible

for winning in the Competition.

XIV. Original Content

❏ To be eligible for the competition, Entries must be the original work of those persons

comprising the Entrant; must not infringe third-parties’ rights; must be suitable for

publication (i.e., may not contain obscene or indecent material); must not contain

defamatory statements about any person, company, organization or entity; must not invade

privacy or other rights of any person, company or entity; must not in any other way violate

applicable laws and regulations; and must not contain any copyrighted elements (other than

as owned one or more members of the participating group Entrant). Entries containing

prohibited or inappropriate content as determined by BEA Audio Stories

organizers in their sole discretion, will be disqualified. BEA Audio Stories reserves the

right to make the final determination as to which entries are eligible.

  1. Distribution

❏ The members of the participating group Entrant may not distribute their audio in any way

before the results are announced without permission of BEA. This includes uploading the

audio to any website other than the submission site.

XVI. Organizer’s Rights

❏ Broadcast Education Association Student Media Clubs is the official organizer of the

BEA  Audio Stories Competition.

❏ All audios submitted to BEA Audio Stories Competition may be used by the BEA

Audio Stories organizers for future promotional uses. The entries may be used for the

making of an audio promotion about the competition itself.

❏ No Entries (media or documents) will be returned.

❏ The Audio Stories organizers may, in their sole discretion, disqualify entries deemed to be

inappropriate or otherwise non-compliant.

❏ The BEA Audio Stories organizers may add to or amend these rules at any time prior

to the beginning of the BEA Audio Stories time period for production of entries.

XVII. Liability and Hold Harmless Matters

By entering this BEA Competition, the members of the Entrant agree that BEA, its

board, employees, members, sponsors, agents, assigns and affiliated associations and

companies will be held harmless from any claims, actions, lawsuits, demands assessments

and/or judgments coming from any and all members of the Entrant participating in the

Competition. Moreover, members of the Entrant agree to indemnify, defend and hold BEA,

its board, employees, members, sponsors, assigns and affiliated associations and

companies harmless against any and all claims, actions, lawsuits, demands, assessments

and/or judgments arising from Entrant’s participation in the Competition.