Literature Review

Literature Review: Revealing the Invisible Children

One would think that a man who has abducted more than 30,000 children would be well known all over the world, however, he and his victims were for the most part unknown to the entire world until a 30 minute film by a non-profit organization called The Invisible Children came out (Curtis, and Tom McCarthy). This video titled “Kony 2012” became the world’s most viral video with over 100 million views since its release on March 5th, 2012 (Carsten). This video tells the story of the conflict in Uganda with Joseph Kony, the commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA. Three young men traveled to Uganda, and had the opportunity to talk to the people who were most affected by the LRA’s actions and documented how they were living their lives. They decided that they wanted to do something about it, so they created the Invisible Children organization, or IC. In this video the IC’s goal is to “make Kony famous” and to spread his awareness. They want the viewers to do something about Kony and make a change in the world; so they ask viewers to donate money to help support Kony’s victims and to contact their representatives so that the US government will deploy troops to Africa for the search and capture of Joseph Kony.
This film demonstrates the support of several politicians such as Republican Senator of Oklahoma Jim Inhofe, Democratic Representative of California Susan Davis, Democratic Representative of Massachusetts Jim McGovern, and even the President of the US Barack Obama, as well as several celebrities such as George Clooney, Rihanna, and Angelina Jolie (Russell). Since this video more senators as well as others have hopped onto the bandwagon to support the campaign (United States Senate).

So, since so many policy makers and celebrities support this campaign does that make it the right thing to do? It’s so easy to jump onto the bandwagon and do something because “everyone else is doing it”; but the main question is, should the US government get involved in the Kony 2012 campaign and can we, as people, think for ourselves regarding this campaign or are we doomed to follow the leaders of our culture?

When this film was first released on websites such as Youtube and Vimeo, people instantly began sharing it on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in support of this movement, and within days it became one of the most popular topics in the world. As it became more and more known to the public speculations of the Invisible Children organization being a scam came into view as well. Most of the complaints are that the facts and footage in this video are from years ago and some are not entirely true, that the IC misallocates its funds, and that the IC isn’t credible organization. After seeing the IC’s short film people began talking about it online on several websites, both good and bad things.

Misleading Facts

Shortly after this film’s release an Ugandan-American girl posted a video on Youtube explaining her personal experiences in Uganda and her opinion on this campaign, she states, “Last time I went to Uganda was in the summer of 2010, when I was there we had problems with the Al Qaeda terrorist group, not the LRA. Kony’s army group formed 22 years ago, when my parents still lived in Uganda, and they did their worst over 10 years ago and they haven’t struck again in over six years” (Kony 2012 Video is Misleading).

Another person expressing her thoughts about the video is an award-winning Ugandan multimedia journalist with a Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict studies, Rosebell Kagumire, states , “Right now Kony is not in Uganda, the situation in the video was from 5-6 years ago, the situation has tremendously improved in northern Uganda. People sleep back home, people are back home, children are going to school; and it’s about post-conflict recovery right now, and we don’t see those issues of what needs to be done now especially when it puts Uganda at the center of the conflict” (Kagumire).

Even the Prime Minister of Uganda, Amama Mbabazi, felt the need to correct the IC’s claims and address the situation in Uganda today. Amama Mbabazi claims, “Uganda is not in conflict. Uganda is a modern, developing country which endures peace, stability, and security” (Woods).

These people claiming that the IC’s video is misleading are people who are from Uganda and have seen and experienced life in Uganda with and without the LRA, and are trying to inform the world that this video is depicting Uganda as a troubled country which today, is safe. Although, the misleading facts is not the only complaint viewers have; those who don’t support the organization believe that the Invisible Children aren’t using their funds properly.

Misallocation of Funds

One noticeable fact about the Kony 2012 video is that it has high quality graphics and it’s apparent that advanced technology was used to record and edit the video. High quality graphics and advanced technology require a large sum of money to produce, which is something unusual for a non-profit organization; some people began to question, “how could the IC afford to make this video?” and they decided to research it. The IC’s audited financial statements for 2010 and 2011 were found; a shocking fact is, the organization who claims to help so many victims of the LRA and encourages people to donate to their cause, only 31% of the IC’s funds go towards the cause ("rackcdn"). The rest of the funds goes towards film making, marketing, and to the salaries of the founders of the organizations, about $262,287 combined, which are the donations that the IC receives from the public ("Charity Navigator"). While the IC is encouraging people to donate money to their organization they fail to mention in their Kony 2012 video an important fact, that only 31% goes towards the cause.

Shady Reputation

Another important part the public should know before donating is that the Invisible Children organization isn’t very credible. The Charity Navigator, is an organization that evaluates charities based on finances, accountability, and transparency to inform those who donate about the charity that they’re donating to. The Charity Navigator evaluated the Invisible Children and gave them two out of four stars on accountability and transparency ("Charity Navigator"). This low rating means that the IC is reluctant to explain and publish its actions and the organization altogether.

Refutes for Criticisms

However, despite several criticisms people continue to support this humanitarian movement. Interviewers asked Jacob Acaye, the Ugandan boy featured in the Kony 2012 video, about his thoughts on the video. Jacob claims, "It is not too late, because all this fighting and suffering is still going on elsewhere. Now what was happening in Gulu is still going on elsewhere in the Central African Republic and in Congo. What about the people who are suffering over there? They are going through what we were going through" (Borger, John Vidal, and Rosebell Kagumire ).

After the Invisible Children were aware of the criticisms they were receiving they posted a page on their website to try to set those criticisms straight and put forth the correct facts. When asked the question, “Where is Kony and the LRA now?”, the IC answers, “No. The LRA left Uganda in 2006 when the Juba Peace Talks began. The KONY 2012 film makes this clear (at 15:01), but perhaps not clear enough” ("Invisible Children").

The IC also gave a description of how the organization’s money is used on their website. The IC claims, “In FY2011, Invisible Children spent 80.46% on programs that further our three-fold mission of awareness, advocacy, and on-the-ground development; 16.24% on administration and management costs; and 3.22% on direct fundraising. (In the U.S., the fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30)("Invisible Children")”.

Although it’s apparent that this organization has some faults, such as oversimplifying the issue which leads to frustration of the victims and misleading facts as well as not using their funds to the general public’s liking and being a more reserved about the organization  true intentions than the public wants them to be, it’s no doubt that they’re superb in using advertisement to influence others to support their propaganda. What many people may not realize is that advertisement actually influences a person opinion greatly.

Psychologists are researching how policy, culture figures, organizations, and others use advertisement and propaganda to persuade people to follow their movement or to oppose other movements. Brian Nosek, a psychologist from the University of Virginia, tells the USA Today newspaper, “The (think for themselves) justification is ironic considering that the purpose of advertising — political or otherwise — is to persuade the viewer about a particular point-of-view. That is, the goal of the political ad is deliberately 'not' to have citizens thinking for themselves” (Vergano). Brian Nosek also states,"The reality is that organizations use advertising to control thought"(Vergano). Psychologists have done multiple experiments to further research this question. An example is an experiment by John Bullock, who is a Yale political scientist. Bullock tested volunteers’ perceptions of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr; initially he had volunteers rate their opinion of him which lead to a disapproval rate of 56%, afterwards he showed the volunteers an ad released during his court nomination that accused him of supporting violent fringe groups and a convicted clinic bomber, which then lead to a disapproval rate of 80%, then, the volunteers were told that the ad was false, however disapproval rate only dropped to 72% (Vergano). The Invisible Children is influencing viewers to follow their movement by showing them how “terrible” their enemy is, just like the ad that the volunteers saw about John Roberts Jr.

Even though the Invisible Children are being bombarded by criticisms they still have overwhelming support from the public. The Kony 2012 video is targeted towards young minds, such as college students and recent graduates, and it’s actually their target audience who are beginning to dissect the organization and discover the truth, yet there are those who still follow the policy and cultural makers. Can we think for ourselves regarding the Kony 2012 campaign, or do we ultimately follow our policy and cultural makers?