Editorial: Why Invisible Children May Not Have the Impact They Advertise

Sometimes the media has a way of influencing the masses to support a cause they may not know enough about.

Director and head of the organization Invisible Children Jason Russell uploaded a 29-minute documentary about the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony, that sent the world into a whirlwind. The movie was a persuasive use of media that called viewers to “change the world” and take a closer look at the happenings in Uganda.

Millions of social media users began to retweet or post the link, but those retweeting, reposting and reblogging the video might need to take a closer look at what exactly they’re advocating with Invisible Children, instead of blindly following the cause.

The Kony 2012 project was launched to raise awareness about Kony, a man who, in the past, has had a griphold on the nation of Uganda, committing atrocities such as enslaving thousands of children to kill or become sex slaves. The video encouraged the world to make Kony’s name popular so that lawmakers and members of Congress could use their power to stop his reign. Many became outraged and took the link and posted it on their personal Facebook or Twitter accounts.

This brings up the first main issue with the Kony 2012 campaign: the approach of simply educating people doesn’t fix the problem.

There is nothing wrong with awareness, but merely posting a link to a documentary didn’t, and won’t change anything. Problems aren’t solved with a simple copy and paste on a computer. It could be a nice jumping off point, and helps to get the word spread and to get people educated sure, but there are better ways to help the cause. Like, for example, donating to other organizations.

Invisible Children gives you that option with the Kony 2012 “action kit,” which brings up the next problem with the campaign: The donated money doesn’t go toward what you may think it does.

They suggested purchase of their 30 dollar kit, which comes with a T-Shirt, a bracelet, an action guide, stickers, a button and some posters. But according to the Invisible Children audit, only 31 percent of their profits actually go towards direct relief, meaning that of the 30 dollars you spend on the “action kit,” 69 percent goes toward different promotional costs strictly for Invisible Children, not the Kony 2012 campaign. So really, only 10 of your dollars actually mean anything to the campaign — whatever that is.

According to Russell’s appearance on the Today Show, over 500,000 action kits had been sold, meaning they brought in at least $15 million in the first week of the Kony 2012 campaign. Though a flashy number, all that means is that over $10 million of the $15 million raised by the sales of over 500,000 kits, didn’t go to the cause.

This poses another problem with the campaign: people blindly followed a campaign they didn’t know about fully.

You can’t blame Invisible Children for leading people to believe they were going to fix the problems in Uganda — they’re actually just doing what they intend to do: raise awareness. Russell told reporters, “the truth about Invisible Children is that we are not an aid organization, and we don’t intend to be. I think people think we’re over there delivering shoes or food. But we are an advocacy and awareness organization.”

The problem with that, is that most people don’t know that.

The final issue is that things in Uganda aren’t nearly as bad as the short film portrays them to be. According to Nikita Bernardi, a Ugandan woman interviewed by Guardian News, “northern Uganda is no longer what it is portrayed as in the [Kony 2012] video. He is no longer terrorizing northern Uganda and the region is now relatively stable.”

So not only has Invisible Children fooled you once with your money, they have also fooled you again with their dramatization of the footage shot in Uganda.

The solution would have been simple if the 85-million-plus people hadn’t already been mislead by Invisible Children’s campaign without doing research and actually knowing what they were advocating before they promoted it.

However, by informing friends and family of the misinformation being fed to the masses via the media, you can still make a difference. You can donate to organizations or relief efforts that actually help out countries like Uganda, like blood:water mission, Kiva or Love146. Each help make the lives of the impoverished by improving living conditions, and help to free enslaved children — both things Kony 2012 fails to do.

Kony 2012 is a nice try, and is helpful to spread a message, but it’s not the answer to the problem, as much as it may seem.