Media Criticism Against Invisible Children: The Answer

After the successful media campaign by Invisible Children, the media has been quick to point out the different perceptions people are drawing from it. CNN, NPR etc have devoted a lot of time to criticism of the media campaign that Invisible Children launched. To be perfectly clear, the campaign has been very successful and I find that this is the source of discontent which has made it uncomfortable for traditional journalists. Their YouTube video has generated more than 70 million views to date and they managed to successfully educate the public about the monster warlord Joseph Kony.

To be fair a lot of criticism does not center around the fact that anything they said is necessarily false but most of the criticism is about perception. It seems the popular media knows all too well about perception because that’s how they craft their news. At the heart of Invisible Children is a desire to change the circumstances of children in Uganda who had been terrorized by the warlord Joseph Kony.

Even with all the criticism of the perceptions that people are drawing from the video, one thing is true. The campaign to inform the world about this little known warlord has worked. More people know more about Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army. More people are helping to spread the word about Invisible Children and many millions of people are willing to assist the children who were previous victims. In the end this means more children like Jacob who is highlighted in the video now have more access to resources to rehabilitate them and help them build something for the future.

Whether you donate your time and money to Invisible Children or not. Whether you spread the word or not, one cannot deny that there is a need for Joseph Kony to be brought to justice. There is no time like the present.
If you haven’t watched the video, this is your chance.

Article by Lillian Mhosva, 2012