Getting to the Peabody Awards
Donation protected
Hi! We're Sam, Aaron, Kelsey, and Justin, and we're students of the University of Oregon. Our 26-second YouTube video, "A Needed Response," just became the first of its kind to win a coveted Peabody Award. But let's go back a bit:
Our inspiration came from CNN's coverage of the Steubenville, Ohio rape sentencing: A six-minute eulogy of these "young men's promising football careers," with nary a mention of the 16 year-old girl they repeatedly assaulted on camera. That CNN, a major news Goliath, would ever conceive of such an angle, let alone broadcast it, was sobering. Where was the outrage? Where was the reason?
So without any expectation of it being seen, we made a 26-second video and posted it on YouTube. Within 48 hours, it had been viewed over three million times.
In the year since, our video has spurred debate about rape culture and sexual assault from YouTube to Katie Couric. And now we want to bring these issues to light at the 73rd Annual Peabody Awards in New York City.
OUR DILEMMA:
The Peabodys are designed with established production companies in mind (this year's other winners are shows like "Breaking Bad," "House of Cards," and "Orange is the New Black"), and we college kids can't afford the $8,000 to get in the door, along with lodging and plane tickets to New York.
So we're asking for your help. We see this as an opportunity to sit down in a room with some of the biggest names in journalism and Hollywood, and talk about an issue that has been so long neglected. And every dollar gets us one step closer to doing that.
Every cent raised after the price of the trip will be donated directly to End Rape on Campus, a survivor-founded nonprofit that helps defend the rights of college students who have been sexually assaulted. For more information on the amazing work they do, check out www.endrapeoncampus.org.
Thank you all so much for your support, and we'll check back in with an update soon!
Sincerely,
Sam, Aaron, Kelsey, and Justin
Our inspiration came from CNN's coverage of the Steubenville, Ohio rape sentencing: A six-minute eulogy of these "young men's promising football careers," with nary a mention of the 16 year-old girl they repeatedly assaulted on camera. That CNN, a major news Goliath, would ever conceive of such an angle, let alone broadcast it, was sobering. Where was the outrage? Where was the reason?
So without any expectation of it being seen, we made a 26-second video and posted it on YouTube. Within 48 hours, it had been viewed over three million times.
In the year since, our video has spurred debate about rape culture and sexual assault from YouTube to Katie Couric. And now we want to bring these issues to light at the 73rd Annual Peabody Awards in New York City.
OUR DILEMMA:
The Peabodys are designed with established production companies in mind (this year's other winners are shows like "Breaking Bad," "House of Cards," and "Orange is the New Black"), and we college kids can't afford the $8,000 to get in the door, along with lodging and plane tickets to New York.
So we're asking for your help. We see this as an opportunity to sit down in a room with some of the biggest names in journalism and Hollywood, and talk about an issue that has been so long neglected. And every dollar gets us one step closer to doing that.
Every cent raised after the price of the trip will be donated directly to End Rape on Campus, a survivor-founded nonprofit that helps defend the rights of college students who have been sexually assaulted. For more information on the amazing work they do, check out www.endrapeoncampus.org.
Thank you all so much for your support, and we'll check back in with an update soon!
Sincerely,
Sam, Aaron, Kelsey, and Justin
Organizer
Justin Rabier-Gotchall
Organizer
Eugene, OR
