Reashot Xigwin
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April 15, 2013 | by Tyler Bellstrom
Viral Kony Campaign One Year Later
While a year later, Joseph Kony has not been caught; the sensation that was the Kony 2012 campaigns impact lingers on. (Photo courtesy of Invisible Children).
In March of 2012 a YouTube video became a viral sensation, which at the time was nothing new. Instead of a video starring cats, what was new was a well-produced 30-minute film about the need to stop Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, a military group that has operated in Central Africa since the late 1980s.
Invisible Children, the US group behind the video, flew to Uganda "to make Kony famous" and then push for his arrest and prosecution through the International Criminal Court. Their aim was to pressure governments around the world, pushing them to militarily intervene to catch him while he is hiding in the bush in the area that overlaps the borders of Sudan, Central Africa, Congo and Uganda.
US President Barrack Obama had sent 100 military advisers to Uganda in October of 2011, but Invisible Children wanted to continue the pressure on governments.
Uganda is a country where the president has been head of state and head of government since the civil war in 1986 that led him to power; the military has been accused of committing serious war crimes particularly in Northern Uganda, and the ongoing influence of American evangelicals in the countrys domestic politics. Uganda is seen as ongoing ally in the "War on Terror" by the United States despite human rights abuses and is seen by evangelical Christians as a new place that can be transformed by missionaries.
On April 9, 2013, the Ugandan and American military quietly suspended their search for Joseph Kony because of the coup in the Central African Republic. So what was accomplished by the sensation that the campaign Kony 2012 was?
Quickly, journalists picked Invisible Children apart as an organization furthering a media firestorm. Journalists and historians were appalled at the lack of historical accountability in the message of the organization. Invisible Children was reveled to be a Christian evangelical organization that (pre-Kony 2012 campaign) was funded by right-wing advocates. They were accused of being the new colonizers of Africa, sensationalizing violence and ignoring a history of Westerners exploiting Africans.
This drove Invisible Children founder Jason Russell to a psychological break. He was captured by a cell-phone camera running naked through a street in San Diego, yelling epithets at passing cars. In late March of 2013 he went on a mini-press tour appearing in both the Guardian and on Canadian Broadcasting Company in which he was accusatory of journalists being "Internet bullies." Russell is still the Chief Creative Officer of the organization.
While a year later, Joseph Kony has not been caught; the sensation that was the Kony 2012 campaigns impact lingers on.
While Kony 2012 did not catch Joseph Kony, it showed how the new media could be used to give people a narrative and that, if it is marketed well, can cause a groundswell that can be felt throughout the world. Its speed can be dangerous because it does not allow people to properly fact-check. People and politicians should be wary.
Viral Kony Campaign ? One Year Later | The Jakarta Globe
Viral Kony Campaign One Year Later
While a year later, Joseph Kony has not been caught; the sensation that was the Kony 2012 campaigns impact lingers on. (Photo courtesy of Invisible Children).
In March of 2012 a YouTube video became a viral sensation, which at the time was nothing new. Instead of a video starring cats, what was new was a well-produced 30-minute film about the need to stop Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, a military group that has operated in Central Africa since the late 1980s.
Invisible Children, the US group behind the video, flew to Uganda "to make Kony famous" and then push for his arrest and prosecution through the International Criminal Court. Their aim was to pressure governments around the world, pushing them to militarily intervene to catch him while he is hiding in the bush in the area that overlaps the borders of Sudan, Central Africa, Congo and Uganda.
US President Barrack Obama had sent 100 military advisers to Uganda in October of 2011, but Invisible Children wanted to continue the pressure on governments.
Uganda is a country where the president has been head of state and head of government since the civil war in 1986 that led him to power; the military has been accused of committing serious war crimes particularly in Northern Uganda, and the ongoing influence of American evangelicals in the countrys domestic politics. Uganda is seen as ongoing ally in the "War on Terror" by the United States despite human rights abuses and is seen by evangelical Christians as a new place that can be transformed by missionaries.
On April 9, 2013, the Ugandan and American military quietly suspended their search for Joseph Kony because of the coup in the Central African Republic. So what was accomplished by the sensation that the campaign Kony 2012 was?
Quickly, journalists picked Invisible Children apart as an organization furthering a media firestorm. Journalists and historians were appalled at the lack of historical accountability in the message of the organization. Invisible Children was reveled to be a Christian evangelical organization that (pre-Kony 2012 campaign) was funded by right-wing advocates. They were accused of being the new colonizers of Africa, sensationalizing violence and ignoring a history of Westerners exploiting Africans.
This drove Invisible Children founder Jason Russell to a psychological break. He was captured by a cell-phone camera running naked through a street in San Diego, yelling epithets at passing cars. In late March of 2013 he went on a mini-press tour appearing in both the Guardian and on Canadian Broadcasting Company in which he was accusatory of journalists being "Internet bullies." Russell is still the Chief Creative Officer of the organization.
While a year later, Joseph Kony has not been caught; the sensation that was the Kony 2012 campaigns impact lingers on.
While Kony 2012 did not catch Joseph Kony, it showed how the new media could be used to give people a narrative and that, if it is marketed well, can cause a groundswell that can be felt throughout the world. Its speed can be dangerous because it does not allow people to properly fact-check. People and politicians should be wary.
Viral Kony Campaign ? One Year Later | The Jakarta Globe
