APRIL 16, 2012

AUTHOR: NICK CARBONE

FEATURED IN: TIME

This article discusses that the Part II KONY 2012 Video was not a hit compared to the first video.  Although the first video was the most popular viral video so far, this video was released April 5 2012, and within only one week, it has only hit approximately 1.6 million views.  This goes to show that our generation has a very short attention span, and we are always looking for something new to catch our interest, and this author believes that Kony 2012 is old news.  

I tend to agree with the opinion of the author.  Although the second video had good intentions, I do believe that our young generation has a very short attention span and that we never stick to one topic for very long.  We go through trends very quickly and if something is not in the spotlight, we will no longer pay attention to the issue.  I think that Invisible Children should try another marketing attempt to get the awareness across, since their first video beat all of the records.  

This is the second part of Kony 2012.  

TITLE: KONY 2012: PART II - BEYOND FAMOUS

PUBLISHED: APRIL 5, 2012

PROVIDED BY: INVISIBLE CHILDREN, INC.

This video goes more into detail about the LRA, Joseph Kony, and what is currently going on in Central Africa.  After all of the criticism about the first video, Invisible Children felt it necessary to provide this second video to get more in depth.

The first video was criticized about oversimplifying the issues of the LRA, and that they did not dive into the complex and complicated issues.  

Invisible Children states:

KONY 2012: Part II — Beyond Famous offers a closer look at the LRA and explores the solutions put forward by leaders of the currently-affected areas of CAR, DRC, and South Sudan, where local communities continue to live under the constant threat of LRA violence. This generation has responded to the call to make Joseph Kony famous. Now we need to dig deeper and turn awareness into informed action. That starts with sharing this film and continues with participating in Cover the Night, the advocacy and awareness event taking place worldwide on April 20th. -Invisible Children.

I think that this video shows the more complicated side of the situation, and that Invisible Children did not try to sugar coat the problem.  Hopefully this video helped with the criticism of the people in the US and in Uganda who believed that the first Kony video made a negative effect.  

March 7, 2012

Photo Provided by:  Glenda Gordon, 2008

Article in: Wordpress.com

Author: Mike Shanahan

This article talks about the true intentions of the organization, Invisible Children.

The author states that while Invisible Children’s intentions were good, they over simplified the real issues at stake.  People are starting to question the organization’s methods and how they spend their money.  Others believes that it awful to think that “foreigners” can solve such a complex and complicated issue “with goodwill alone” (wordpress.com 1).

The author then states that she saw Rosebell Kagumire’s tweet, a Ugandan journalist, which showed how she felt about the whole situation:

“this simplification of a story of millions of people of N. #Uganda is not acceptable #KONY2012”  -Rosebell Kagumire

Rosebell then stated that she believed that although social media is a good way to spread awareness, she thinks that the internet is making people lazy and the audience never questions the background of what is really occuring.

This photograph shows mixed controversy of the three film makers who started Invisible Children.  They are all posing with guns in Africa, with stern looks on their face like they are about to take charge.  The guns take over the entire picture, which makes the reader’s eyes draw towards the gun first.  I think that this picture symbolizes the power that people can have.  Although this has mixed emotions, I can see how people probably think that this picture is the definition of controversy and if people did not understand the background of this photo, they would probably believe that Jason Russell is a huge hypocrite.  

March 12, 2012

Author: Mario Aguilar

Photo taken from gizmodo.com

This chart shows that Kony 2012 reached over 100 million views in only 6 short days, making it the fastest popular video on the internet, beating out celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and other Youtube hits, like “Laughing Baby” or “The Annoying Orange”.  This shows that going viral and the internet is the key to spread awareness for our generation.  This generation is all about technology and the quick and rapid response to this video shows that.

I think that this chart definitely catches the reader’s eye right away, since it caught mine.  I also feel like this generation cares a lot about hard facts and statistics, and this chart lays it all out on the table.  By throwing in big names like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, this also draws the reader’s eye in and makes them want to read more.   This is just another clever way to spread awareness about Kony 2012; for those who did not know about the video and saw this chart, were probably then curious to look it up.  This is a good campaign for more views and to spread even more awareness about the serious and injustice issue that is occurring overseas.  

April 3, 2012

Author: Perry Chiaramonte

Seen in: FOX NEWS

Kony 2012, Part II, which is the follow up to the extremely popular 30 minute film Kony 2012, was supposed to be aired on April 3.  But, due to the mixed conflict and turmoil the first video has caused when it became viral, the Invisible Children producers decided to delay the release.  This new video will show more of the Ugandan conflict and educate the public by going more in-depth with the information since critics claim that the first video “oversimplified” the problem.

I think that it is quite sad that the backlash and hatred of the first Kony 2012 film caused the second film to be delayed to the public.  It is unnerving that some people in the world do not see this as a serious problem, and if it was their children who were suffering, they would be doing everything in their power to stop Joseph Kony.  It really just goes to show that some people do not think about others, where Invisible Children is doing everything they can for others.  I hope that the second video has as much success as the first.  Even though with success comes failure, I hope that the success of the second video shines through the hatred and criticism and spreads a worthwhile message to everyone all over the world.  

Video taken from youtube.com, CNN LIVE video

This is the video shown on CNN of the Kony 2012 director, Jason Russell.  

Taken from ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/03/21/kony-2012-director-treated-for-psychosis/

“Though new to us, the doctors say this is a common experience given the great mental, emotional and physical shock his body has gone through in these last two weeks,” Danica Russell, Jason’s wife said in a public statement. ”Even for us, it’s hard to understand the sudden transition from relative anonymity to worldwide attention – both raves and ridicules, in a matter of days.”

Hopefully Jason is on a quick road to recovery, but this shows the full backlash that the negative attention of the Kony 2012 video had on Jason mentally and physically.  Although this video made a huge and positive impact, there was also a lot of negative attention.  It is sad to see that Jason took the news so personally, but hopefully this experience will only make him stronger in the future.

Video and photo taken from www.invisiblechildren.com

This video shows a past campaign that Invisible Children has put together.  You can see hundreds of thousands of people have joined together for the event, called “Displace Me”, which represents all of the people in Northern Uganda who have been displaced from their homes because of the LRA and Rebel War.  All of these people slept outside for the night in cardboard boxes, representing that they have been “displaced” and to show their respect for the people who are suffering every day.  This campaign was a great way to spread awareness of the rebel war and shows that people truly have a passion for helping people.

I have personally been to a Displace me event, at my high school.  My best friend was a strong supporter of Invisible Children and made an Invisible Children club at my school.  For two years, she held a Displace Me at my high school and everyone slept outside in our court yard in card board boxes.  It really helped to show how fortunate we are.  It was a great experience and I would love to attend an event which is sponsored by Invisible Children.

Seen on Forbes.com

Author: Taylor Brodarick

March 22, 2012

This article shows how fame and celebrity is more powerful than some well-known government leaders or other figures.  Kony 2012 spread so rapidly in social media because of famous celebrities, such as George Clooney, Oprah, and Angelina Jolie.  What is surprising is that President Obama released troops in Uganda approximately two years ago, but it was the actual film and celebrities who brought this issue up just recently.  The video is now at over 83 million views and still continues to climb.  This article continues to explain how fame and celebrity has expanded the awareness and support of many organizations and issues.

I think that celebrities are put into the wrong light and are morphed from society into something bad.  Many celebrities donate, give back, and help out with numerous foundations.  If celebrities had not helped with the Invisible Children cause, I seriously doubt that this video would have been as popular.  #Kony2012 would not have been the number one trend on twitter, and the video count would not be at 83 million.  Celebrities are people too, and they do know the difference between right and wrong.  I think that what these people did to help the innocent people in Africa was life-changing for them,