KONY 2012 Video Analysis: Invisible Children

“Silence can become complicity in oppression,” articulated Carol Guzy, as her eyes, filled with compassion and wisdom, scanned the audience. A four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, she radiated ethos, and my fellow National Youth Correspondents at the Washington Journalism and Media Conference soaked up every carefully crafted word. She touched on what it means to wield a camera or a pen to fight for the things others would wield a gun to defend, and how personal values make the journalist, not expensive technology or flashy gimmicks. During the half hour she spoke I realized that the personal impact journalism has is just as important as the societal effect. Carol Guzy’s voice was shown in images of tragedy-stricken places: New Orleans in 2005, Haiti in 2010; mine is shown in the words I string together as I try to better understand the world around me.

Jones acknowledges these points. However, he refutes them by saying that “it’s helped hundreds of people for everyone its hurt, and it can help far more if we learn how to use it” (Jones). In other words, when we channel violent media into heroic battles of good versus evil, it can empower a child in need. This rebuttal contributes to the objectivity of the essay. It shows that the author did his research so well that he can recognize opposing viewpoints and refute them.

Today, people seem blinded by their outsized enthusiasm for social media. According to them, a few clicks can change the whole world and accomplish wonders such as curing cancer. Good intentions become sufficient on their own, as if there were no need for medicine and scientific researches anymore. Well, this is pure nonsense. Facebook’s likes cannot save African children from starvation, the same way Twitter’s 140 characters will not put an end to acts of terrorism. This notion is not even remotely debatable. For instance, the project Kony2012 had a perfect starting point; inspiring video, moving story and most importantly worldwide spread. Unfortunately, the terrorist is still at liberty, and the lack of thorough investigations is to blame. Instead of focusing on the real problems of war and kidnapping of children, the so-called activist related to the obvious and spent all of his money and energy on his movie. Ultimately, due to the predominance of weak-ties, the project was not successful. More importantly, certain tools of social networks, especially “likes” and “retweets”, encourage people to feel good about themselves, when actually they should incite them to put their efforts and means in the cause they supposedly defend. As Gladwell wrote, “[current] activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but by motivating them to do the things that

In these cases of the Capital Hill shooting and the Atlantic rescue; I will criticize the news media industry who decided that it was appropriate to show videos of which these kid’s traumas will forever in history because they chose to reward the “heroes” with fame. These heroes will live on in fame, the kids trauma will never be left unspoken. With my own experiences in my mind, I criticize these “heroes”. True

The Rwandan Genocide also is still an existing issue which killed one million people, mostly Tutis and some Hutu’s, continues to be one of the most tragic and memorable events in the contemporary society of Africa. Specifically for those who were involved. Lucie Niyigena, a 70 year old woman who managed to survive the genocide, is still forced to face her fear everyday living beside someone who could have potentially killed a member of her family. This is just one of the still existing hardships for those forced to live it. This problem has not been changed since historical times partly because modern society has chosen not to make the change.

Also, in an interview conducted by Journeyman Pictures, the leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony lied about abducting villages. He was trying to cover up for the atrocities that he and his troops had caused. In the video, Kony addresses, “The LRA has never been involved in any abductions, rapes or mutilations. That's just Museveni’s propaganda.” He was blaming others for his wrongdoings. Throughout the interview, Kony blamed it on “Museveni's propaganda” four

In “The Singer Solution to World Poverty,” Peter Singer urges all Americans to donate any money not being used for sustenance to help children overseas. When I read this article in my AP Language and Composition class last year, I realized the duty I had as a privileged individual, to help these underserved communities. However, this was not something my friends and I could engage in-- we were all broke and didn’t even have jobs, not to mention the harrowing expense of future college tuitions haunting our dreams. But this didn’t mean we couldn’t help save children’s lives. I found three other colleagues who shared my goal of helping kids globally and we collaborated to co-found our high school’s own UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) club.

This warlord of Uganda is just another Hitler of our world. Kony is a man with a mission to stay in power. He will do all he can to maintain a superior status.Kony has not committed these crimes himself, but has become the rising leader for Lord's Resistance Army

Kony 2012 is a short documentary produced by Invisible Children, released on March 5, 2012. The film demonstrates the Invisible Children’s plan to capture Joseph Kony. It describes the actions he and his army have done, including forced recruitment of child soldiers, and the attacks on the innocent villages and people. After eight years of demanding justice for the LRA affected villages, the campaign Kony 2012 was created.The purpose of the film was to help bring awareness to the cause, and make fugitive Joseph Kony globally known. It was really just an experiment, they did not know if an online video could actually raise awareness and help bring the world together to stop Joseph Kony. After about six days the video had over 100 million views.

After the events at Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech, two of the most fatal massacre’s ever to happen in the history of this nation, two great leaders, renowned poet and professor Nikki Giovanni and the president of the United States Barack Obama rose up using speeches as their outlets to try and make efforts to uplift and inspire spectators that were saddened and confused. While both audiences were different they were also similar. The many viewers of President Obama’s were families of the little children and staff members that tragically lost their lives. The audience was very saddened and distraught just like observers of Nikki Giovanni’s speech. However Giovanni’s speech was more of an uplifting speech to inspire the audience.

That call to action can come in many forms of media and to a global audience. “Terrorist recruitment videos, often released online, have been tailored to appeal to various audiences. A propaganda video, which can still be watched on YouTube of captured U.S. soldier, Bowe R. Bergdahl, compares what seems to be his good treatment under al-Qaeda, to those of U.S.-run prisoner of war camps” (Philipp).

The Lord’s Resistance Army, or the LRA, is Africa’s most violent armed group and also the oldest. Joseph Kony formed the LRA in 1986 in northern Uganda, to fight against the Ugandan Government. At the height of the conflict, about two million people were displaced in northern Uganda. Since the LRA never gained public support, they turned to forcible recruitment to build up their army (“The Lord’s Resistance Army”). Kony, and the LRA believe that Uganda should be governed and run based on the 10 Commandments. They rely on the application of terror in order to keep their campaign alive. The war in Uganda being

Some of the basic human rights we see as children of the United States are not guaranteed everywhere. One example of this would be the oppressing of children in Uganda. As more and more children were enslaved by the Lord’s Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, the Invisible Children was founded to raise awareness through their campaign of “Kony 2012.” After eight years of campaigning against the Lord’s Resistance Army, the Invisible Children posted a video titled “Kony 2012.” It began as an experiment, but with over 100 million views in only six days, the infamous Joseph Kony went from an obscure villain to world known criminal. The campaign reached its goal in April of 2012, when President Barack Obama announced that he would reignite the United State’s mission to help the African Union in stopping LRA violence.

This video was interesting and unique in its own way; I felt as if in a way this video looked like an “American spin off of a terrorist video.” This video can possibly instill fear into the drug dealers, but it also can allow them to prepare themselves more and switch up their tactics, because they know that law enforcement agents are trying to catch them. This video also possible can place certain people at risk due to the fact that the sheriff did inform them that they had undercover agents buying drugs off of them. Law enforcement officers are suppose to enact community policing and be community oriented, this video shows that they are trying to handle the heroine problem in their community. However, the approach that he took to get his

Contemporary social movements such as Arab Spring and Kony 2012 use the Internet and social media as potential tools towards change. But why are some more successful than others. This paper argues that when news outlets see the potential for change, they “premediate” (Richard Grusin) its possibilities, and make that change ever more possible in their coverage. On the other hand, extant stories that are more reactionary do not get the same amount of new exposure, and remain static. In other words, our media - not just social media, but news organizations - play a great role in shaping current events. I will compare and contrast the unfolding of the Arab Spring story, and how little changed regarding Kony 2012, as cases in point.