There has been mush discussion about the "Kony 2012" video around the world. I personally am annoyed by the constant bombardment of this single source of selected information. For some reason many people seem to believe that everything they see online is true... Or perhaps it is because the video hails from an American organisation that provides the creditability? From the war in Iraq and the US Government's general framing of information to the messages transferred in programming and advertisement in American media, why should the creditability American publications be questioned?
Again we see the "developed world" speaking for the "underdeveloped world". Where are the voices, views and opinions of the people of Uganda in all of this? As with all "development" tactics, the rest of the world is pushing for something without consulting the people on the ground.
Angelo Izama, a Knight Fellow at Stanford University and a journalist in Uganda states that ""Kony 2012" leaves a false impression that there is a war going on in Northern Uganda... Besides getting the geography wrong, the video takes away attention from existing problems where the conflict festered fro 22years."
As Angelo Opi-Aiya Izama points out, "to call the campaign misrepresentation is an understatement". He is in no way denying that Kony should be brought to justice, but is concerned about the way in which this viral video is portraying the situation, neglecting the successes of the combined efforts on those people actually involved.
As capitalism and consumerism also get to frolic via this event, it raises concerns about who is actually benefiting from all this 'activism'. Aside from the merchandise sold by the video's authors, "Invisible Children", Kony 2012 items and apparel are now being produced and marketed at various scales worldwide. In Trinidad, Kony 2012 T-shirts have hit the market via Facebook and may possibly be lucrative considering all the Blackberry broadcasting and social networking spamming of the issue.
Social media and the internet gives people the ability to seek out information from different sources. Granted that one may be limited to whatever is available, it should not hamper one from trying. There are many discussions, debated and publications around the Kony 2012 issue but the masses appear to not be concerned. Clearly rhetoric with a strong emotional appeal is the easiest way to capture people's the attention and interests. Considering that the dominant discourses around this issue are not based on ground-level input or not fuelled by a quest for accuracy, I am left to be even more concerned about the future of humanity...
Kony has fled years ago due to backlash and the majority of profits collected for Invisible Children go to the staff, while only 30% or so go to the actual cause. It just shows how we take in everything we see or read like mindless robots.
ReplyDelete