Let’s get these egotistical bastards off our Internet!
Sony Creative Software, a leading provider of professional video and audio editing software applications, the Ad Council, and the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) today announced a public service announcement (PSA) development contest to raise awareness of cyberbullying. The winning entries will air on national television in spring 2008 as part of the prize package, which also features Sony software applications and hardware valued at up to $25,000 USD.
Leading cyberbullying researchers Dr. Justin Patchin of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Dr. Sameer Hinduja of Florida Atlantic University have defined cyberbullying as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the medium of electronic text.” Cyberbullies employ two major electronic devices to harass their victims from afar. First, using a personal computer a bully can send harassing emails or instant messages, post obscene, insulting and slanderous messages to online bulletin boards, or develop websites to promote and disseminate defamatory content. Second, harassing text messages can be sent to the victim via cellular phones. Dr. Patchin and Dr. Hinduja have found that the majority of bullying occurs in Internet chat rooms, through text messages or via email.
Judging the cyberbullying PSA contest are Dr. Patchin, acclaimed filmmakers Steve Oedekerk, producer/writer (Bruce Almighty, Barnyard and more) and Barry Sonnenfeld, producer/writer (Men in Black, Addams Family and more), as well as members of the Ad Council’s Creative Review Committee, which is comprised of some of the best creative talents in American advertising. The Ad Council’s CRC is responsible for approving the strategic and creative elements of all Ad Council campaigns prior to production.