Journalism Contest Official Rules

1. All contestants must be affiliated with a participating Tulare County Mock Trial team and enrolled at the team's school.
2. All participants must pay a $10.00 entry fee and complete the entry form.
3. All participants must sign a code of ethics promising to work independently on the contest entry.
4. All participants must sign a release form authorizing the publication or reprinting of their Journalism Contest submissions for educational purposes. No financial compensation will be awarded.
5. Contestants may only watch and report on their team's trials.
6. All contestants are invited to watch their team's first trial during Round 1.
7. All contestants must write their articles based on their team's Round 2 trial.
8. When attending Rounds 1 and/or 2 of the Tulare County Mock Trial Competition, all contestants must wear a "press badge," as provided by Tulare County Office of Education at check-in.
9. During the trials, all contestants must sit in the jury box in a row below the scorers. If a scorer or the presider asks the journalist contestant not to sit in the jury box, the contestant may sit in the front row of spectator seating, away from witnesses.
10. Contestants will introduce themselves to the scorers (they will be sitting in the jury box) and the presider (she/he will be sitting on the bench).
11. Once the journalist contestant is seated, he/she may not have any contact with anyone from his/her school (parents, teachers, or fellow students). He/she must draft an article completely independently.
12. All contestants will have 24 hours to complete their articles and deliver them to the Tulare County Office of Education - Educational Resource Services, beginning at 5:30 p.m. on the day of Round 2. All entries must be completed and received by the Tulare County Office of Education - Educational Resource Services via facsimile, e-mail or hand-delivery by 5:30 p.m. the following day. See address, fax, and e-mail below.
13. Typed submissions must be a 12-point Times New Roman font, with one-inch margins, double-spaced, and a page limit of two pages. Any articles over two pages will not be read. If submission is handwritten, article must not exceed 500 words.
14. Use of dictionaries and thesauruses will be permitted.
15. Contestants may refer to the California Mock Trial case materials, the Journalism Contest rules and Judging criteria during the contest.
16. Awards for the Journalism Contest are independent of the Tulare County Mock Trial Competition; an individual may win a Journalism award regardless of the Mock Trial team's final ranking.