With over one hundred million ‘views’ the Kony 2012 video has started a far-reaching debate on the aims and value of a production seen by many as an over-simplification of complex situation.
Produced by the NGO ‘Invisible children’, the video calls for military intervention to “stop Kony and disarm the LRA”.
Host Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House was on the hunt for controversy – which is exactly what he found.
Perhaps the most scathing comments on the video came from film-maker and journalist Callum Macrae.
“Low and behold the world has paid attention and I’m hating every minute of it… This is a dreadful, I’m afraid, campaign. But nonetheless very important and we need to discuss it.”
Macrae says the unwavering focus on Joseph Kony puts him ill at ease.
“We shouldn’t be lowering ourselves to the level of Kony or the people who see him as an African bogeyman, we should be looking at the issues that are raised by it.”
Mareike Schomerus, of LSE’s Justice and Security Research Programme agreed that focusing entirely on Kony is a dangerous simplification.
“If you go into LRA controlled areas and actually stay there it becomes clear that the situation is actually much more complex than elevating just one man to the position of superpower…
When I talk, especially to military men,… and I say to them ‘do you honestly really believe that that one man can be responsible for messing about… 5 national armies and 3 UN missions and the US army, and the French army and sometimes the Israeli army.”
Programmes Director for the charity War Child, Amanda Weisbaum also casts a critical eye on the content of the video.
“They did 30 minutes of filming and they didn’t really do any history surrounding it or any complexities surrounding it… but yes I would have loved the 100 million hits”
But how then do people kindle an interest for African issues? Asks Benjamin Chesterton of production company DuckRabbit.
“Do you think we all start with PHDs?… we have to start somewhere… a percentage of [these people that watched the video] will go away and find out more… and maybe do something more than sitting around debating it.”
Poet and musician of Ugandan descent, Musa Okwonga rejects this out of hand.
“It’s utterly patronising to say that children can’t handle complexity… people followed complex narratives involving multiple characters over seven books with Harry Potter”
The idea put forward by the video that military intervention is the only solution held no water for the panel.
“The lessons of history” says Macrae, “are that it’s always gone wrong; it’s always scatter gun and it’s always brought more havoc”
Watch the full event here:
]]>Despite its inaccuracies this campaign has created wider awareness about Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) than any news report or campaign that has come before it, so what can be learned? Join us for April's First Wednesday as we debate whether the KONY 2012 campaign is a force for good or a worrying development in campaigning.
]]>The recent KONY 2012 campaign video has been met with strong criticism, but nobody can question its effectiveness in reaching a mass audience. The film, created by Invisible Children and featuring director and founder of Invisible Children Jason Russell, is reportedly one of the fastest spreading viral videos ever, reaching over 100 million views in a week.
It has been criticised for presenting a complex situation as a simplified problem with a simple solution, for reinforcing the idea that Africans are helpless victims who need to be ‘saved’ by ‘the West’ and for misrepresenting reality.
Despite its inaccuracies this campaign has created wider awareness about Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) than any news report or campaign that has come before it, so what can be learned? Join us for April’s First Wednesday as we debate whether the KONY 2012 campaign is a force for good or a worrying development in campaigning.
Hosted by Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House.
With:
Benjamin Chesterton, radio documentary and photofilm producer, co-founder of the production company duckrabbit and the website A Developing Story.
Amanda Weisbaum, Programmes Director at War Child, who work on the ground with communities affected by the LRA in Northern Uganda and Central African Republic.
Musa Okwonga, a football writer, poet and musician of Ugandan descent. He is author of A Cultured Left Foot which was nominated for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award and Will You Manage?. He is one half of The King’s Will, an electronica outfit that blends poetry, music, and animated videos.
Mareike Schomerus, Research Consortium Director of the Justice and Security Research Programme at LSE and author of many publications including Chasing the Kony story in The Lord’s Resistance Army: Myth and Reality.
Callum Macrae, a film-maker and journalist who has reported, filmed and directed many award-winning television documentaries for Channel 4, the BBC and Al Jazeera English among others. He first made a film about Kony and the LRA in 2003, and has written and made several films about the LRA since.
]]>By Gianluca Mezzofiore
A panel at the Frontline Club, chaired by Mark Galloway, director of International Broadcasting Trust, an educational and media charity which works on range of projects to promote media coverage of the developing world, discussed yesterday the problems linked with media and aid.
“We have ups and downs and a lot of criticism, but on the whole there’s a good relationship with the disaster emergency committee. We need each other,” said Fran Unsworth, head of BBC newsgathering, who added that the corporation had a responsibility to licence fee payers to provide the information they require for their lives.
“We have to be responsible to our audience, but not audience-led,” she said. “It is our challenge to make the complex stories interesting for them.”
Andrew Hogg, Christian Aid news/campaigns editor and former news editor of the Sunday Times and Observer, admitted that NGOs need media to raise money and to highlight issues. “The relations with media is healthy and functional only if it involves mutual responsibility,” he added. “There is a huge responsibility upon us, but also media has the responsibility to report on what we do in a fair manner.”
“The BBC documentary on aid agencies in Haiti which collected money but failed to deliver goods on the ground was interesting, but one-sided and created a deep impression in the public opinion,” Hogg said. “We deserve a proper scrutiny.”
Benjamin Chesterton co-founder of the production company Duckrabbit and the website A Developing Story, raised his concerns about media outlets relying too much on aid agencies. “When you a see a whole BBC photo gallery with aid agencies’ by-lines, instead of the photographer’s name, the independence of media is compromised,” he said. “Balance is fundamental, but we start losing it because aid agencies are too much on the grip of media.”
Unsworth replied that the BBC has no problems with aid agencies providing photos, as long as they are well-known and reliable. “There are strict policies about libelling,” she said. “It is not about giving credit to someone, but being transparent with our audience.”
Independent writer and consultant, Michael Green was director of communications at DFID from 2003 to 2007 and co-author of Philanthrocapitalism and The Road From Ruin. He expressed concern about the government’s policy on international aid and increasing the budget and commitments “despite the negative economic growth”
“Politicians should hear the public opinion’s voice,” he said. “There is a benign conspiracy among political elite to push aid ahead of public opinion.”
According to the EU barometer website 91 per cent of Britons still think it is important to help developing countries, but the percentage of people who thinks the government should give more aid has decreased from 50 per cent to 35 per cent since 2007.
A crisis of confidence is coming in the aid business. Part of the problem is how to engage people on these complicated issues. The other problem is with NGOs lobbying and campaigning. However, aid agencies are beginning to use online platforms, which give rich experience to the public and give them a chance to participate and engage with the NGOs. Like a shark has to stay alive, NGOs must communicate to propagate their brand.
Watch the video here:
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