Last Word: Dith Pran. Fact Checking The 'Kony 2012' Viral Video. Copyright © 2012 NPR.
For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required. Propaganda. That word has a negative connotation, but in its most neutral sense, it simply means to get a message out, to propagate the ideas that are in that message. The makers of the film, a nonprofit called Invisible Children, aimed to make Joseph Kony famous so that the world will do something to take him down. Our number is 800-989-8255. MICHAEL WILKERSON: Thanks. DONVAN: So, Michael, you have been in and out of Uganda a lot. WILKERSON: No. DONVAN: And what kind of atrocities are we talking about? WILKERSON: Anything from abducting children, raping women, murdering people, perhaps the most infamously often forcing children to shoot their relatives as part of the abduction to stigmatize them and keep them from wanting to escape because they were too ashamed to go home. DONVAN: All right. JACOB: I love you, but now I miss you. JASON RUSSELL: Mm-hmm? WILKERSON: Yeah. On Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 Campaign.
If there was a prize for the NGO who best commodifies white man’s burden on the African continent, and more specifically in Uganda, Invisible Children would win.They recently struck again with a new video and campaign titled “Kony 2012.”
I was surprised to see it popping up everywhere on my Facebook feedback yesterday: clearly, their social media tactics are to be admired. Their underlying message – which is, of course, more important – is not to be. I think it would be useful for persons unfamiliar with the issues featured in the movie and with the difficulties of poverty porn messaging to read up on some past blogs about Invisible Children before sharing this film. A friend has circulated a list of links providing critique from bright and well-qualified individuals speaking on these issues: Wronging Rights is headed by two human rights lawyers who, for many years, have been on top of the development and humanitarian aid debate, as well as international justice.
You Don't Have My Vote. Women of Kireka. Invisible Children + Resolve. Texas in Africa. Today I'm very pleased to present a guest post from Dustyn Winder and Erin Bernstein.
As students, they got interested in the situation in northern Uganda and started spending time in the region, learning about local peace building initiatives. They've also risked the wrath of the celebrity-advocacy culture by pointing out some of the problems with Invisible Children's approach to the crisis in northern Uganda. I asked them to guest post today about specific reasons the organization's approach is less effective than it could and should be, and - for those of you who complain that we never offer solutions around here - ways IC could do better.
Here are their excellent thoughts on the subject (I couldn't resist adding emphasis in bold on some of their best points!) : Therein lies the problem. When we first heard of the campaign, we called IC’s headquarters expecting an explanation for the campaign’s audacity. This is a symptom of the larger problem at hand. Autesserre Dominant Narratives DRC. Meeting Joseph Kony - Uganda June 2006. Ugandan Rebel, Kony, Soars to Topic No. 1 in Online Video. Suddenly, he said, gunmen shot at the truck in front of him, and that is how he discovered the horrors wrought by and his .
Mr. Russell would dedicate the next nine years of his life, often in obscurity, to making them a household name. This week, in a testament to the explosive power of social media, he managed to do so in a matter of days, baffling diplomats, academics and Ugandans who have worked assiduously on the issue for decades without anything close to the blitz of attention that Mr. Russell and his tight-knit group of activists have generated. Since being posted on Monday, their video, “Kony 2012,” has attracted more than 50 million views on YouTube and Vimeo, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations on the first day alone and rocketing across Twitter and Facebook at a pace rarely seen for any video, let alone a half-hour film about a distant conflict in central Africa.
Though Mr. Yet many viewers had never heard of Mr. Kony 2012 and the Potential of Social Media Activism - Room for Debate. Unpacking Kony 2012. Posted by Ethan on Mar 8th, 2012 in Africa | 91 comments Traduzido para o Português por Natália Mazotte e Bruno Serman.
Invisible Children, “Kony 2012″ & The Problem With Paternalism. Yesterday I posted a video from non-profit Invisible Children aimed at bringing Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony to justice.
Titled “KONY 2012,” the 30-minute spot has become an unstoppable viral sensation this week. Seemingly out of nowhere, the video’s popped up everywhere, on tons of friends Facebook pages, on Twitter and on countless blogs. That’s the stated goal of Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell, who made the film as a way to bring attention to the actions of Joseph Kony and hopefully help arrest and bring him to justice.