Brian Lamb School of Communication

COMPETITION IMPORTANT DATES

Application Opens –  COMING SOON FOR SPRING 2027 
Application Due – COMING SOON FOR SPRING 2027 
Training – COMING SOON FOR SPRING 2027 
Competition Submissions – COMING SOON FOR SPRING 2027 

CASH PRIZES

Top Prize – $600
2nd Place Prize – $400
All finalist entries receive $100 *
*Cash prizes are awarded per podcast entry.

 PRIZE ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for the final competition and qualified to receive cash prizes, each competitor must:
_/ Be a full-time undergraduate student enrolled at Purdue University, West Lafayette AND
_/ Submit a completed application with podcast proposal AND
_/ Be advanced to the production submission round AND
_/ Attend 1 C-SPAN Video Library training session AND
_/ Submit their original production podcast with 3 C-SPAN audio clips, abstract, summary and source citations
 

JUDGING CRITERIA

5:  Exceptional    4: Very Good   3: Average   2: Weak   1: Unacceptable

Audio Production and Sound Quality

• How clear, clean and well-balanced was the audio? 
• How well was the editing done? 
• How well did the music or other post-production techniques enhance the story? 

Story Telling

• How well was the topic conveyed from beginning to end?
• How clear was the narrative structure of tahe podcast and the information presented?
• How well did the C-SPAN audio enhance the overall narrative?

Audience Engagement

• How was the quality of the host and/or guest speakers? 
• How well did the podcast engage audience attention? 
• How engaged with and committed to the audience did the creator seem, as evidenced in the podcast? 

 Judge Ranking Form

Competition Rules and Information

There are 2 rounds to the competition.

Round 1 – Competitors select one of the 3 prompts and submit a podcast proposal
Round 2 - Top 20 proposals will be selected to produce and submit their proposed original podcast. 

 Create a 15-minute narrative format podcast and include audio from the C-SPAN Video Library. 

• Podcasts cannot be less than 14 minutes and cannot exceed 16 minutes. 
• The genre is narrative style and should provide a complete listening experience with a clear beginning, middle and ending. Narrative style podcasts are story-driven and focus on putting together the right story using interviews, sounds, music and a scripted narration by the host. 
• Feature at least 3 audio clips from the C-SPAN Video Library that enhance the narrative – total combined time for all C-SPAN clips cannot exceed 5 minutes. 

 One entry per student or group. 

• Individual students may only submit one entry for the competition. 
• Group size not to exceed 3 students with one entry per group. 
• Groups must select one group member to submit proposal with all group members listed and final podcast entry. 

Upload the final production podcast audio file to SoundCloud and share the link: smit4800@purdue.edu

• Final production podcast must include a summary and source citation to be emailed separately to smit4800@purdue.edu

 Competitors must adhere to the following for their final production podcast: 

• All submissions must consist of the original creative work of the competitor(s) and must not have been otherwise published or submitted elsewhere for publication. 
• Competitor(s) are entirely responsible for the content of their Podcast, including ensuring that all necessary permissions have been granted for any third-party content incorporated into the Podcast.  
• Consistent with the access to and fair use of C-SPAN copyrighted materials, Competitor(s) agree that they shall not use their Podcast submission for any purpose other than the CCSE Podcast Competition without the express, written permission of C-SPAN and Purdue University. 

• You must attend online help sessions or pass the C-SPAN Video Library quiz with a 100%

PODCAST COMPETITION RESOURCES

Competitors are eligible to reserve recording time in the audio booth.
To reserve recording time in the audio booth, contact Toni DeAztlan-Smith at deaztlan@purdue.edu.
Time slots are limited. No guarantee of availability.

C-SPAN Video Library Resource
How To Guide Create, Download and Insert C-SPAN Video Clips

 Podcasting Tips  

How to Make a Podcast  

• https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/learning/lesson-plans/project-audio-teaching-students-how-to-produce-their-own-podcasts.html  

Recording and Editing  

• Garageband – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n38qu0c-3bs  
• Audacity – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3hjqg0V6Ck  

Script Writing   

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN5YBgu34Fo  

Delivery  

• Solo – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQXoLS0SxTs&t=56s   
• Interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVgjtcg46kY  

Podcast Categories

Competitors will select one of the 3 prompts below.

Behind the Headlines
Tell the story of a policy, issue, or headline topic you care about and find the history and/or legislation behind it.

Famous, but Did You Know
Pick a famous figure and find interviews or information on them not commonly known including any appearances on Capitol Hill, campaign events, discussion panels, author talks, etc…

Purdue Innovations and Change Makers
Select an event, person, or innovation important to Purdue and tell the story about your topic and why it is important to Purdue.

Sources for Purdue Innovation and History topics:

• Purdue Libraries E-Archives - https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/ 
• The Exponent - https://www.purdueexponent.org/ 
• Purdue News - https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/ 
• THiNK Magazine - https://cla.purdue.edu/think/ 
• Office of Research and Partnerships - https://www.purdue.edu/research/vpr/ 
• Book by John Norberg: Ever True: 150 Years of Giant Leaps at Purdue University