The Protection Plan: A case study in post-humanitarianism

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The Protection Plan: A case study in post-humanitarianism

Supervisor: Susan Resnick-West

Dissertation (COMM 599) submitted to the Department of Media and Communications,

University of Southern California, April 20111 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

MSc in Global Media and Communication

Jacqueline Smith Global Media and Communications

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Introduction! Decades ago, when press advertisements and direct marketing were at the cutting edge

of media, a humanitarian aid organization by the name of Oxfam used startling photographs to

depict victims of world hunger and called for public participation in the Western world for

alleviation. While I am not suggesting that was the beginning of visual appeals in aid, I amsuggesting the representations were the beginning of a bond; one that subtly built a structure of

confined agency in the representation of the sufferers, yet more importantly, came to symbolize

a call to convene for an emerging public whose resources and collective capacity for empathy

were needed. The corollary that evolved over the next 60 years has shown to follow a complex

growing process in the representation of others. This process involves an intricate relationship

between humanitarian aid organizations, publics and audiences and most importantly, the ways

in which they distribute these representations; the media.

! A strong example of this juncture is illustrated in the organization Invisible Children, a non-

profit founded in 2003, which serves afflicted areas of northern Uganda and central Africa that

have been infiltrated and terrorized by Joseph Kony and his transient Lords Resistance Army

(LRA). The organizations model relies on the traditional need for donations and fundraising, but

channels its communication in new ways; their interactive Web site offers interactive information

about their mission, maps, games, links, forums and most importantly, video.

! In previous research endeavors, I argued that the shift to media and technology centricity

in our society is responsible for shifting audiences attention away from the one dimensional

views of suffering. With that, I take the idea further by su40ggesting that the proliferation of aid

and social welfare appeals can be attributed to widespread use of online new media platforms

and because of that, the representation of crisis and actor agency has transformed as well.

Through multi-modal analysis of dialogue, visual imagery and their interplay, I look at the 3 part

web mini series and newest campaign, “The Protection Plan ”, by Invisible Children. I seek to

satisfy the question, In what ways have new aid campaigns, specifically Invisible Children ̓ s

Protection Plan, adapted their visual and textual representation of crisis by using new media?

and What implications does Invisible Children ̓ s multi media approach have for the audiences?

! I chose this piece for analysis as it defines the idea of aid organizations using new media

in news; the 3-part webisodes are all under 7 minutes long and have a unique narrative that

exemplifies, yet does not preach, the power of grassroots movements which has proven to be

widely successful on a national level. It is the most contemporary campaign from Invisible

Children and the first completely interactive campaign theyʼve had. Invisible Children is a worthy

Jacqueline Smith ! Global Media and Communications!

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organization for study because of itʼs belief that this kind of online exposure and interaction

between organization, sufferer and audience will help revolutionize the way citizens see being

ʻactiveʼ in an aid campaign.

! In three sections, post-humanitarianism and media logic, representation and discourse

and lastly compassion and morals, I construct a review of literature from each standpoint of the

relationship that creates the space Invisible Children operates in. Post humanitarianism and

media logic frame organizations through the scope of modernity and reliance on emerging

technologies which helps define the independent, Web based nature of Invisible Children. In

representation and discourse, I look at the historical image of suffering through a conditioned

popular discourse to explain why new representations, such as ones used in the piece for

examination, are more than a breakthrough on negotiating compassion fatigue, but also

progress in discourse itself. Lastly, I recognize a crucial academic debate concerning the

audience and form a theoretical foundation for the audience ʼs role in acting and reacting to

representations through popular discourse.

! Chapter 2 of this paper outlines the chosen methodological approach, multi-modal

analysis of discourse and image. There will be a discussion of both strategies, defining them in

terms of this paper and a justification for employing them for this particular piece of discourse.

Limitations and general research notes will be addressed before delving into the results and

discussion. Finally I would conclude with a summary of findings from my research and provide

recommendations for further study on this topic.


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Literature Review

! For years, humanitarian and international aid agencies have witnessed and responded to

a plethora of global tragedies5. Social, political and technological change has had an impact on

this sector, specifically in changing the landscape for communicating their need to the public.

Increased awareness in a global media environment has led to more social issues becoming

public and apparent, creating more a competitive field in vying for audience attention and

compassion. Coupled then with the sometimes tense relationship between humanitarian

initiatives and political support, the need and abilities for aid organizations to define themselves

and their voices distinctly becomes key in finding a strong audience base. With the impact of

new media use and practices, what impact does this have for the appeal of the organization?

What are the potential implications of those changes? What follows is a summary of relevant

literature in the field that highlights key tensions, agreements and debates that seek to provide

answers to these, and other questions.

Media Logic

! To begin, aid organizations, or any other kind of business for that matter, are reactors to

the environment in which they operate and arguably nothing in our social environment has

proven to grow as fast or as powerful as the mass media. David Altheide and Robert Snow

(1979) refer to this reaction from different social sectors as making use of “media logic”. The

authors describe media logic as a mode of understanding and interpreting affairs in the social

and sub social realms (popular culture, entertainment, news, sports etc.) through the framework

of a reality the media portrays. Further to the point, people wholly adopt this logic and have

made it a way of life (1979, p.237).

! This framework of media logic helps explain some of the key changes in the humanitarian

aid sector particularly well, as evidenced by the many global agencies vying for more media

time which could result in more support. Following this notion, Simon Cottle and David Nolan

describe what they see as the relationship between the media and aid organizations. Illustrating

and framing the dynamics of such a relationship, they recount Larry Minearʼ

s (1996) descriptionof what is known as ʻthe crisis triangleʼ. Crisis triangles exist at the junction of governments,

news media and humanitarian organizations and they are inextricably linked in an ebb and flow

type relationship to survive (Cottle, Nolan, 2007, p.863). In theory, each facet is considered an

individual actor yet simultaneously part of the collective actor (the crisis triangle) in relation to

the larger concept of media logic. Therefore, humanitarian organizations have reacted to a more


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media centric environment in four ways. First, by branding themselves organizationally to

respond to the constant exposure in the media, second, by preparing stories, events and

celebrity spokespeople in advance to stay relevant in a 24 hour-a-day information society. Third,

by regionalizing their information and coverage of aid work while “marginalizing if not occluding

local relief responses and indigenous participants” and fourth, using time and resources to

protect their organizational image and credibility against potential damaging media claims (p.

864).

! These four processes provide an insight into an association aid organizations have with

the government and news media. An example could be an agency taking legal action against a

media outlet to protect confidential information about victims involved in a tragedy, but shortly

thereafter working with the media on publicity for a staged event raising awareness about relief

efforts for that same tragedy.

!

On Representation and Discourse

! As the sub-title suggests, representation and discourse are two non-mutually exclusive,

almost inextricable terms. In terms of this paper, representation will be understood as being a

product of dominant media discourses and more specifically discourse on race and ethnicity are

framed as being carved out of the subtle details these dominant media discourses choose to

provide to the masses. In other words by Stuart Hall:

“What the media produce is, precisely representations of the social world, images, descriptions,

explanations and frames for how the world is and why it works the way it is said and is shown to work.

And, amongst other kind of ideological labor, the media construct for us a definition of what race is, what

meaning the imagery of race carries and what the “problem of race” is understood to be.” (Hall, 1981.

Bridges and Brunt, 1981, 35.MacDonald, 2003, 7)

! A key example of this, and most relevant to this research, is the idea of the ʻsuffering black

Africanʼ or ʻstarving African childʼ. Imagery and discourse on these constructs can be found

scattered through the media for the last 60 years. Oxfam with their famous visuals of skeletal

black children on the brink of death6 if only for the 10 cents a day a wealthy Westerner could

donate. Stanley Cohen discusses the ʻold charity discourseʼ whereby humanitarian

organizations subscribe to representations of the Other as ʻpragmatic amorality – patronizing,

ethnocentric, fatalistic (poverty just happens, like natural disasters)ʼ (Cohen, 2001, p. 178). He


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further discusses this discourse as becoming more engrained in media logic as charity and relief

efforts start using these pornographic images of suffering as bait to reel the consumer to buy (in

some cases, literally) into the cause.

! The constructed myth of the inevitable sufferer has been an accepted visual cue that

audiences have been conditioned to through decades of normalization yet there is strong

evidence to suggest this use of intense suffering and negative imagery is counter-productive to

charity organizations cause. Evelyn J. Dyck and Gary Coldevin conducted a study in

conjunction with the World Vision Canada charity in which they developed a way to test the

appeal of negative versus positive images for fundraising applications (Coldevin & Dyck, 1992;

Tester, 2001, p. 82-83). Splitting 45,855 English speaking Canadians into three groups to

receive three different versions of a pamphlet asking for donations, the results were a challenge

to the normative model of imagery for donation appeal. The first group received a photo of a

happy, healthy child represented in a positive manner, the second group received an image of a

sick looking, unhealthy child represented in a negative manner and the third group received no

image at all, just a textual appeal for a donation.

! While this study dealt with many more layers such as gender and economics, the

overarching hypothesis was that positive imagery would yield higher donations than negative

and pure textual ones alike. The surprising response was that of the pure text averaging higher

responses than both image categories, which is discussed in the following section, but for the

purposes of this paper, the important conclusion was that the positive image was more

successful than the appeal using the traditional sufferer (Coldevin & Dyck, 1992; Tester, 2001, p.

82-83). This conclusion directly confronts the traditional representations humanitarian

organizations use in appeals circulating through the media and dominant discourse. While the

representation of the Other is redesigned, located at the same origin is the allowance for

popular conception of audiences as lethargically sympathetic to be rethought and possibly given

more credit as an active consumer of images.

! Although this study shows that positivism is more productive in terms of garnering

spectators attention than negativism, there is still tension as to the consistency of either. The co-existence of both appeals is suggested to be present in just about every aid campaign and

subtleties within the campaign can produce/validate or contest existing ideologies and

discourses within the same mediated space (Dogra, 2007, p.6). This creates a duality between

coherence and ambivalence within one single message which is worth noting, particularly for

purposes of this paper, as multi-modal analysis is especially esteemed at finding such visual


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and textual tensions. These tensions are important because it exemplifies a transition or attempt

at transitioning from an emotion-oriented appeal to an overall more reflexive position to give

room for the spectator to make their own judgement on the need for their help. At the same

time, negativism can be found in slight undertones in appeals in humanitarian communication to

remind the viewer that it is still a precarious, timely situation. This continual theme of coherence

and ambivalence within the humanitarian message will be explored in this case study, paying

close attention to the rational claim for help.

! Roland Barthes helps expand the view on rationality and positivism in a work of essays

titled Mythologies in the 1950ʼs established a theory as to why a positive image in relation to a

tragedy could garner more funds or support. Although work on this, from the chapter ʻThe Great

Family of Manʼ, was not set in context of humanitarian aid, using the scope of this paper to

frame his argument, it becomes applicable. Barthes argues that beyond all signs and symbols

dominant discourse train us to process, we are all humans who engage in ʻmoral universalismʼ.

We feel for the human condition on a raw level of being, therefore in the context of

representation we relate to the setting and the affliction. What sounds so simple is actually the

myth he is debunking; it is not in the negative photo of suffering we relate to, it is in the positive

image of a sufferer that serves as evidence that it is humanly possible to find a resolution to

stop the suffering (Barthes, 1972, p.100-116; Tester, 2001, p.89). There is not sufficient

evidence agencies today employ these positive imagery tactics, but with the evidence on

dominant discourse and representation we turn to a discussion on the audiences role in

consuming and reacting to information on the suffering Other.

Compassion and Morals

! ! If the public is the target of efforts for support of aid agencies, there are certainly

implications of the representations comprising the efforts. A highly contested subject in the

academic world by theorists researching the humanitarian condition is that of ʻcompassion

fatigueʼ and the role of human morals. Susan Moeller (1999) theorizes in full support of active

human morals but also of the reality and prominence of compassion fatigue among the westernworld today. She discusses the state of audiences as having ʻIʼve-seen-it before syndromeʼ, but

even more interestingly, discusses compassion fatigue as a pronounced ʻprior-restraintʼ on all

media outlets (p.2). In other words, the desensitization of audiences to sensational news is so

great that the fatigue dictates what stories news outlets will report on. It is an ongoing adaption


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of news outlets to the feelings of the viewer, which is in effect a never-ending process as one

continually affects the other (media logic)

! Stanley Cohen (2001) postulates compassion fatigue is built on three key, overlapping

concepts: information overload, normalization and desensitization. As he argues cases against

each, for the purposes of this paper I choose to focus on his unique case against information

overload. Cohen makes no question of the proposed arbitrary argument the overload or fatigue

theory carries:

“It implies that individuals and societies have thermostats that switch off when too much information

comes in. This is contrary to all theories of cognition and memory. It is not even a good metaphor: baths

fill up and overflow; minds and cultures donʼt.” (2001, p.188)

What seems at first to be a complete denial of fatigue theories, Cohen does not disbelieve

audiences feel overwhelmed, he just does not believe images and news stories are doing the

damage; he argues it is all in the demands these appeals make. A concept called “demand

overload” is the high psychological, emotional or financial demands that turn us off, but up to the

point of overwhelming audiences, any amount of information can be consumed. He goes further

by saying when these demands are made in relation to distant suffering, viewers get a sense of

helplessness but instead of turning off, they will be more apt to act locally to problems

surrounding them. That way, the demand that is being made of them is reconciled, lest being on

a micro scale (Cohen, 2001 p.189).

! The theory of demand brings us back to the Dyck and Coldevin study of the use of images

and representation appeals in aid campaigns for fundraising. After the data is presented and

discussed, a key take away message appears; audiences are rational people, they view the

demands that are made of them through what is called “consumption logic”. This logic follows

that potential supporters of the organization want to feel as if their donations will be made out of

a rational state, not an emotive one that negative pictures or representations try to elicit (Dyck

and Coldevin, 1996. Tester, 2001).

! Considering media-logic as the construct in which humanitarian organizations have been

using to channel their audiences emotions may be lacking in terms of fully accounting for the

fundamental change the democratization of media has had on aid appeals. Lille Chouliaraki

introduces a new approach to this change by defining it as ʻpost-humanitarianismʼ. She states,


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! “It is this humanitarian sensibility, characterized by textual games, low intensity emotional regimes

! and a technological imagination of instant gratification and justification, that we may call

! post-! humanitarian communication... the key feature of post-humanitarianism lies precisely in

! loosening up this ʻnecessaryʻ link between seeing suffering and feeling for the sufferer and in

! de-coupling emotion for the sufferer from acting on the cause of suffering (Chouliaraki, 2010, p.

! 17)”.

She goes further into analysis by separating the approaches pre and post humanitarian

campaigns used as appeals; the former, emotional-oriented appeals rely on the assumed moral

universalism of the audience while post-humanitarianism aims at reflexive particularism of the

individual viewer (2010, 18). In other words, traditional aid appeals have spoken to a low

common moral denominator among viewers, not particular to each individual, but something

common everyone can feel and understand. Given the complexity of the new media

environment (instant information gratification, multi-dimensional and multi-sensory mediums,

high speed online connectivity, etc) Chouliaraki points out that the segmentation and diversity of

channels for communication on humanitarian aid issues have changed not only the way viewers

engage with aid organizations, but have also informed the new approaches to those viewers

from the organizations themselves. The culmination of these two shifts has given way to the

embrace of reflexive particularism, or, a shift to promotion of individual judgement and decision.

Instead of presenting the cause as an appeal for specific action based on assumed morality of

the viewer, a reflexive particularist appeal would try to be as void of viewer assumption as

possible, presenting the scenario and then relying on ʻthe deliberative cognition reflections” from

the audience to make a choice of whether to act or not (Levy, 2011, 141).

! The two key aspects of post-humanitarian appeal that Chouliaraki outlines are moral

properties that would be antithetical to traditional one-dimensional shock effect or agency

branding messages. The technologicalization of action is the first statute and it speaks to the

new media that is used to present this appeal. It looks at why appeals over new media are

getting more audience reaction and attributes the cause of it the new media itself, purely

because it makes donating or signing a petition simple . The online platform creates a simple

structure to get involved (click you mouse or use pay-pal) while the voice of post-

humanitarianism backs away from emotion and justifying why you should care to make way for

the viewers immediate reflexive feelings.


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! The second imperative aspect of the voice of post humanitarianism is the de-

emotionalization of the cause or the avoidance of traditional emotional triggers (guilt,

indignation, etc.) as they are considered to be non-actionable feelings (as opposed to rational

thought that leads to an actionable outcome). This of course does not suggest post-

humanitarian messages are void of emotion, they are not, but the emotion elicited is meant to

taken into consideration and examined by the viewer (Chouliaraki, 2010, p. 15). De-

emotionalizing while still implementing an emotional-rational appeal requires delicate navigation

on part of the organization and can be seen as being a large part of the coherence/ambivalence

struggle in post-humanitarian sensibility

Invisible Children: The Protection Plan

! Invisible Children takes a unique media based approach, producing dozens of promotional

videos for fundraising events, as benchmarks for on the ground initiative progress and

informational videos aiming to give full scope to the issue. Invisible Children's most recent

campaign for “The Protection Plan” is a 3 part web mini-series that introduces the initiative,

focuses on the infrastructure being built and illustrates what you can do to be a part of it. The

aim of this project is “to implement a strategy in the LRA affected areas that will protect innocent

civilians from brutal LRA violence, prove rehabilitation for children rescued form the LRA and

facilitate progress towards apprehending the top LRA commanders”(Invisible Children

Protection Plan, p. 3, 2011). The 5 key objectives in the plan for protection and rehabilitation

include:

• building an early warning radio network

• educate local communities and encouraging safe LRA surrenders,

• funding search and rescue teams,

• providing rehabilitation and family reunification

• promoting the arrest of Joseph Kony and other top LRA commanders

! What makes these webisodes markedly different from previous examples of aid appeals is

the strong dialectic and visual focus on the spectators potential impact on the objectives rather

than focusing on the victim and the problem. The issue of violence is portrayed in a community

sense with little to none singularizing the experience of the crisis and the necessity for

infrastructure reform. To engage viewers, Invisible Children is garnering grassroots support for


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an event being held on April, 25th 2011 whereby supporters of the plan pledge $25 and go silent

for 25 hours in solidarity with those victims of the LRA whose voices have been silenced. The

funding necessary for the protection plan is outlined in detail in the packet and to actively

participate in the plan, Invisible Children asks for a donation of $25 (which can be made online)

that will provide the patron with a tee-shirt , protection plan outline, two pieces of paper for

writing your respective congressmen letters to address the issues going on with the LRA and a

necklace with small cards to be passed out to people, explaining the reason for silence. The

viewer can create an online profile where they are responsible for using their own social network

to help the project go viral and are asked to raise an independent $25 from friends and family

(also can be donated online). While the webisodes provide information on how to participate in

this, they certainly do not make a focus on it. That raises the question, how do all these factors

fuse to create a nationally successful grassroots campaign?

Research Questions

! My previous research and literature review suggests there been a development of

representation in aid campaigns that began with the ʻotherʼ as a hopeless sufferer lacking

context, to a more positivist approach with capabilities of more self-reflexivity and agency to

assert their own Identity. To further that idea, I look at a web mini-series that introduces and

outlines The Protection Plan. The primary question I will seek to answer through my research is:

In what ways have new aid campaigns, specifically Invisible Children ̓ s Protection Plan, adapted

their visual and textual representation of crisis by using new media?

What implications does Invisible Children ̓ s multi media approach have for the audience?

Research Design and Methodology

!I rely on multimodal analysis as an agent for exploration of these question when looking at

this case study. Kay OʼHolloran describes this method as “the practice of analysis of discourse

and sites which make use of multiple semiotic resources; for example. language, visual images,

space and architecture. (2001, p.4)”. Multimodal analysis looks at many different channels

going on within one piece of communication and the importance of their impact on one another

while interacting. For that reason I will broadly outline two main channels that will be covered in


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my research, discourse and visuality. Other modal considerations will be discussed at hand

when addressed.

Critical Discourse Analysis

" As a method, critical discourse analysis aims to unpack relationships, interactions and

other forms of communications to find underlying motivations and social conditions that can

help explain their meaning. As put by Lillie Chouliaraki,

“CDA is a method of analysis of the television text that treats the linguistic and visual choices on the

screen as subtle indicators of the power of television to mediate the world to the world. This is the power

of television to classify the world into categories of ʻusʼ ʻthe otherʼ and orientate (or not) the spectator

towards the suffering other” (2006, p.84).

For this discussion, discourse itself can be broadly distinguished into two categories defined by

the intent of the language used by the speaker, or in other terms, intent of language to be

interpreted. Norman Fairclough makes a delineation between the readability of certain texts by

categorizing them into ʻconventionalʼ and ʻcreativeʼ texts, the former which strengthens existing

social identities and ideologies and the latter which strives to transform them (1995, p. 55).

Umberto Eco, whom theorizes one can gauge a text on the ability and ease of interpretation,

further explains this notion by providing a paradigm of open and closed texts. A ʻclosedʼ text

encourages little change in the socially constituted thought and an ʻopenʼ text warrants a wide

interpretation on the original idea (Eco, 1981; Chandler, 2001).

" With this critical eye, one engages with analysis tactics and is able to pull significant

themes and practices that hold a piece of discourse together. Underlying power relations, latent

motivations or submissive social constructs become apparent and can thus aid in identifying

and describing subtle cultural shifts that would not, or could not, be seen under ʻnormal

conditionsʼ. Using a critical framework that employs CDA, one can trace social themes and ties

that relate language to ʻother facets of the socialʼ, whether it be political, social, confrontational

or commercial (1995, p.54). As CDA provides qualitative data, critical frameworks differ from

scholar to scholar.


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" Lillie Chouliaraki breaks CDA into two equal parts, orientation and representations

(representations will be discussed in relation to images and visual composition; orientation will

be addressed at hand). Chouliaraki places orientation in a dual-dimensional construct of

agency. This dialectical relationship among agency constructs interact with one another by

having one focus on the individual actor and the way he or she is portrayed in an act of

suffering and secondly focusing on the supporting actors (non sufferers) and how they interact

with the victims (2006, p. 85). To compliment and create a fuller methodological framework for

research we turn to the secondary technique, visual interpretation.

Visual Analysis

" Visual representation through imagery constitutes the other half of the paradigm of what

Chouliaraki describes as ʻorientationʼ and ʻrepresentationʼ. This sections involves the physical

scene of suffering and uses analysis of the space-time temporality to involve the viewer in the

ʻcommunication eventʼ being mediated (2006, p. 85; Fairclough, 1995, p. 56). This

complimentary technique informs the audiences as to the intensity of the event, distance or

proximity they occupy in relation to the suffering event and most importantly, hones the

ʻurgency/finalityʼ they should feel related to the event (2006, p.85).

" An inherent interaction that takes places between the audience members and the

sufferers is due in whole to the nature of constructing visual representation in general and

suffering specifically. The depictions and visual representation of communication events on

suffering are intended to be seen by a specific viewing audience, and it is by that intent alone

that analysis of the scene set up becomes a visual discourse to be deconstructed. The

construction of space (dangerous/safe, isolation/interaction) and time (past/present, open time/

scripted) provide matter for analysis as does the semiotic choices made (camera position/visual

editing/graphic specification), which, together can be interpreted for clearer answers to the

research endeavor (Chouliaraki, 2006, p. 86)

Methodological Justification

Fairclough would consider this piece a ʻcreative communication eventʼ, meaning it engages

multiple discourse types, or, audio and visual. Although I discuss CDA and visual analysis in

two separate sections I use Lillie Chouliarakiʼs justification, “representations and orientations are


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not separate parts of the television text... (they) coexist in one single news and the analytical

perspective on discourse must therefore look at once into both metafunctions in order to

determine how they are brought together in each.. sequence” (2006, p. 85). CDA provides a

qualitative lens for documentation and deconstruction of these happenings and can help define

a catalyst and implications of this potential change. In terms of the specific methodological

framework used, the orientation/representation binary will be used within my methodological

design to identify the changing agency of the actors on one hand and answer questions of

context and audience on the other.

Methodological Limitations

" There are several limitations to using these methodologies, the most obvious being the

single source of discourse for analysis. Resource restraints and guidelines for this paper dictate

a limited breadth of research on the topic, but in using the most qualitative method of research I

hope the depth of this one piece to be sufficient. That qualitative freedom also works as a

drawback as there is not one definitive frame for use of CDA as a research method and with

endless theoretical lensʼs to analyze through, many interpretations of this piece can exist at one

time (Wodak, Meyer, 2009, p.5). We these considerations in mind, we move to the key findings

from this research.

Results and Interpretation

With support of a strong theoretical background and thorough methodological analysis,

the Protection Plan responds to the original research question, In what ways do new aid

campaigns, specifically Invisible Children ̓ s Protection Plan, create their visual and

textual representation of crisis by using new media? in a direct sense. I structure the

decomposition of these Webisodes to move from pure visual/textual properties through

the stage of sufferer/donor relationship negotiation (modal imagination) and conclude by

looking at network activation as a result of such using such appeal. I use the terms,


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I. Multi-modal tensions and Aesthetics

! As the scene opens for the first webisode, a transistor tone comes across the

speakers as a hand flips switches on an old high-frequency (HF) radio, the movement

not coinciding with the sound. A voice over in French begins and in subtitles reads,

! “I donʼt know if anyone can hear me. The Lordʼs Resistance Army have attacked all the

! surrounding villages. There is nowhere that is safe from the LRA, they are killing,

! mutilating and abducting children and forcing them to become fighters. The people here

! are fleeing. They are desperate. This is Camarade Belinda from Dungu Village reporting

! in on the community radio. Something is going to have to change soon or I am afraid

! there is not going to be many of us left. Please, if you can here this, help” (Protection

"Plan , 00:07 - 1:04).

! Although the man is identified by name, there are no specific actors in the visual

sequence that accompany his monologue. Instead, there is a visual montage that

loosely tells a story of a village under attack, men slowly preparing for conflict with

archaic-looking bows and arrows and a distressed community leader relying on the only

communication technology available to try and receive help. With only this narration laid

over the split image sequences, there is no definition to the concrete spatial or temporal

realities of these events, thus, little orientation as to the proximity and urgency of the

circumstances.

! I find the lack of a spatiotemporal locale can be indicted to a few elements, but

primarily and most important for this discussion I attribute it to the tension between the

dual modalities, voiceover and image (specifically montages), of the webisode. Neither

mode tells an unabridged story individually or together, rather, they have separate

focusʼs that can interact in ways to create a humanitarian voice for Invisible Children. I

hinge this tension together with ʻchronotopicityʼ, a conceptual construct that deals with

an unstable idea of time. It allows events and representations located in complex

spatiotemporal environments the ability to sway between multiple space-times, and

thus, multiple realities (Bakhtin, 1981; Chouliaraki, 2006, 87).


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! In this case, there are two separate modalities that at once create a disjuncture

between and reciprocality of the verbal-visual relationship, and is is carried out as an

overarching theme that continues throughout the short three-part series. In her book,

The Spectatorship of Suffering, Lillie Chouliaraki looks critically at narrative style and

various avenues of realism as useful tools for analyzing such multi-modal

communication. Applying her categories to the Protection Plan , the visual-discursive

correspondence can be seen as visually representing an ideological realist approach,

which appeals to audiences with a claim for justice, a universal moral or idealogical

issue that must be corrected, and then the more subdued textual account focused on

the local actors collective proximity to safety or danger (Chouliaraki, 2006, 80, 127).

Although not always aesthetically vexing, the visual level and the discursive level are

relating two subtle yet very distinct messages. Take for example, Laren Poole, an

Invisible Children founder and main actor on behalf of the organization in these

webisodes, explaining,

! “Visiting these areas out here itʼs very clear to see the LRA is alive and very able !to

! continue to terrorize the population. Though the problem is very serious, the community

! has banded together to come up with some ideas on how to protect themselves and

! welcome home the child soldiers” (Protection Plan, 5:33-5:43).

Poole refers to the community as a collective being, a population, and as such are all ingrave danger of an organizationally active (ʻthe LRA is alive”) and strong (“very able”,

“problem is very serious”) off-the-grid terrorist network. The dialect descriptors incite an

immediate sense of risk and fear, placing the communities much closer in relation to

danger than to safety. Consider that sentiment in relation to the the accompanying

visual.


16



!

(Fig. 1)

! In imagining a community or village in a conflict against a terrorist organization

where the community stands as a collective whole against a ring of coordinated

criminals, one could assume that the most valuable and vulnerable asset to that

collective body would be their young, the children. This image, and the ones that quickly

follow, illustrate the most vulnerable and delicate actors in the conflict and frame them

from what appears to be an unknowing, susceptible angle. From this stealthy position,

the children seems to be alone, thus, in danger. As Chouliaraki discusses ideological

realism, she explains that the concept encourages a stark stance on the most macro of

issues (i.e. whether or not you are against humanity) and urges viewers to take

unapologetic public ground (2006, 80). In this visual scenario, a decision is being asked

to be made by the spectators to either protect the communities children, or not

(protection in this sense is understand with a liberal view and will be discussed further in

the next section). These modalities reciprocate with one another by embracing their

place in a chronotopicit conception, moving from one time-space to the next as they


17



interact to create a more robust contextual background and deeper symbolic meaning of

suffering, crisis and terror. In decoupling the frequencies for closer examination of

appeal though, they can be understood as periodically being ambivalent to one another.

It is at the juncture of this ambivalence that the inability to securely situate the actors

and cause in a defined time and space has occurred.

! Another level of analysis that deserves attention here is the role of actor agency.

Thus far, the local actors have been community oriented, not based in singularity in any

way. In the second webisode, ʻChild Soldier Rehabilitationʼ there is a linear visual

narrative telling a story of a boy escaping the LRA, being welcomed home, feeling

isolated and entering rehabilitation provided by Invisible Children and being reunited

with his family for recovery (Fig. 2 - 5).

(Fig. 2, 00:24)


18



(Fig. 3, 00:58)

(Fig. 4, 2:16)

(Fig. 5, 3:24)


19



! The boys orientation here is singular. He is acting alone and most times he is the

only actor that is focused on in any one scene, anyone else appearing next to him

clearly being secondary. His motion is slow, is gaze is distant and although it is

performative, is not cognitive of the camera. This has the capacity for low reflexivity and

self-awareness which can be characteristic of negativism in appeals, the webisode is

still presented in a positivist fashion. His agency is shown in direct relation to the

rehabilitation center which frames his representation as being a ʻconditional agentʼ.

Conditional agency are only allowed to act in a limited way and ineffective way, visually

implying the need for external infrastructure to help gain empowerment (Chouliaraki,

2006, p. 119). This focus on infrastructure and agency is low-intensity in terms of

emotions and invites the non-addressed spectator to consider the real utility of having a

facility like this.

! All of these factors create a construct of positivist appeal through subtle visuality

which stands in contrast to the first reading of the first webisode where language and

imagery negotiated a hyper-mediated urgency (negativism). This illustrates an earlier

concept of narrative tension within an aid campaign, coherence and ambivalence. On

an organizational level, the message is coherent - there needs to be infrastructure to aid

in the recovery and prevention of LRA attacks. Yet on a level that deals with

representation, these two orientations of the problem and the actors are ambivalent one

one another. There is urgency, risk and need for immediacy in the first example and in

the next, there are cues to an expanded distance from danger, requiring less

immediacy. In this dichotomy of coherent message and ambivalent portrayal, one can

place Invisible Children in the post-humanitarianist approach to adapting visual and

textual roles of crisis for web content.

! As the boy approaches his parents is in figure 5, text on the screen reads:

“HELP BUILD THE FIRST LRA REHABILITATION CENTER CONGO.

INVISIBLECHILDREN.COM”.

This brings us to the next important element in reading their appeal, the engagement of

the spectators.

!


20



II. Audience Activation

" There are indicators that demarcate the idea there is a reason why a spectator

should act on behalf of the crisis with the LRA, yet they are not overt. There are painful

images in a montage in the first video and a website with an invitation to get involved at

the end of each webisode but void is the grand plea for action on the audiences part.

When you follow the link to website youʼll find plenty more media and countless

avenues for donation; click to donate, twitter apps and a personalized page for you to

track your progress in public. This can all be done in the comfort of your own home

without getting up between watching the videos and is exemplary of what Lillie

Chouliaraki would the simplicity of the technologicalization of action (2010, p.14). With

this and the de-emotionalization of the campaign I discussed in the previous section, it

creates a space and time for the viewer to consider, judge for themselves and become

reflexive of whether or not to help. Considered in that regard there seems to be little

interference on part of the organization to spur action, but evaluating the level of

reflexivity with the level of urgency and ambivalence also discussed in the previous

section, there has to be a motivation that makes this appeal so actionable.

! Before I do so, I would like to define the constituency of actors on behalf of

Invisible Children or, the spectators. The webisode platform and interactive nature of

their organization (their public essentially convenes online or communicates online on

how to physically convene) lend itself well to Lance Bennettʼs ʻSPIN Networksʼ. That is,

a network of people who segmented , polycentric and integrated which results in a

network (2003, p. 10). Although there is not a strong emotional appeal, this network

works by relying on the reflexivity and personal judgement of all the individual viewers

and their ability to recognize their likeness among one another based on the fact

someone else came to the same logical conclusion they did about these issues.

Because they are segmented and polycentric, they integrate themselves into the online

platform to reach over geographical boundaries if necessary. The question then

becomes how to harness the solitude of a network as fluid and polycentric.

! Pamphleteering relies on the objectivity of the spectator and a ubiquitous

(multimodal) voice narrating the appeal with which the spectator has no moral

reservations with. On that contingent, the viewer will then adopt the view of the


21



omnipresent voice and is moved into a “moral position (spectator, see for yourself what

there is to see” (Chouliaraki, 2006, 140). From there the option, not demand, to act is

presented visually in an aesthetically pleasing way.

(Fig 6, 6:17)

The voiceover suggests no pity or grand emotion:

“Theyʼve already done a lot with the little resources they have and through out travels we have

documented the projects that show the best potential to save lives with little investment. We ʼve

compiled all of these projects in a document called ʻThe Protection Planʼ. The best way you can

help the Protection Plan become a reality is sign up for 25” (The Protection Plan, 6:17).

! The voiceover suggests a heavy weight of post-humanitarian appeal. It is

precisely the loosening up of the necessary link Chouliaraki describes when decoupling

the emotion for the sufferer from acting on the cause of suffering (2010, p. 17). The

technologicalization of action then comes into play as it gives the option of the best way

to help, which is by signing up on the website. It secures voluntary commitments from

viewers to sign up for demonstrations, share the link, create a profile or acquire them on


22



their database for future communication. All of these, though mundane and simple,

(exactly the kind of technologicalized action that makes up the post humanitarianism

approach) are forms of protesting and shift the spectators into a SPIN network that has

become activated.

Conclusion "

" In summary, The Protection Plan, a web based mini series created by Invisible

Children has been found to have visual and textual implications that stem from, 1) the

increased connectivity of media conglomerates, governments and the humanitarian

sector (media logic), 2) the open, informal nature of being a web based campaign that

essentially came into being due to the prevalence of media and news online and 3)

audiences new use and practices of new media in their everyday life (also in part to

media logic).

! These implications come in the form of modality, aesthetics and agency. A low-

intensity emotional regime is is used in forms of visuality, such as not singularizing or

orienting the crisis on any one face and this works as a de-emotionalizing agent for the

viewer to engage in reflexivity contemplate whether or not they should act. Yet looking

at the combined mode of the textual, there are still underpinnings of an immediacy

appeal, creating a tension between the coherence of the overall message (“please getinvolved”) and the vacillating ambivalence between modalities (textual is assuring actors

in crisis are stable and competent while visual suggests the urgent need to act, or vice

versa) (Dogra, 2007). I argue that this is possible by the orientation of chonotopicit time,

in which there is no defined spatiotemporal place these events are happening and that

allows for movement of the modalities to move from space to space or from one reality

to another (Chouliaraki, 2006).

! When considering the role of the audience in this paradigm, they are segmented,

polycentric, integrated users (because they are connecting over the web based

platform) and create a network based on their mutual, voluntary interest in Invisible

Children and the fight against the LRA. Their movement as one is brought into being by

new forms of protest, signing a petition online, sharing the link to the video or

connecting with local users to participate in the demonstrations. This


23



technologicalization of action simplifies the aid message as making it effortless to feel

you have made a difference in such a huge crisis.

! With all of these factors and processes combined, I conclude that in part due to the

use new media and increase in intensity of media logic, the appeal of aid has changed

and is entering into a new era of post-humanitarianism (Chouliarki, 2010). The role of

the audience is transformed through this process thus creating a new spectator/sufferer

relationship. Although this is one, limited case-study, I think is indicative of a new trend

for humanitarian agencies. I believe more research should be conducted on the topic to

find and further the analysis of this shift to better understand its implications on a

broader basis.


24



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http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/07/lazarus200707?currentPage=all






Appendix 1

“Protection Plan” Webisode 1 TranscriptFilm from Invisible ChildrenRun Time: 6:58

Transcribed: Jacqueline Smith! ! 17 March 2011

A close up of a very old radio. Makes transistor sounds as a hand flips knobs along the top and picks up a phone. Close up of a mans eyes, looking downward

Camarade Belinda:! (Being spoken in native language in background, captions! ! ! ! onscreen)

! ! ! ! I donʼt know if anyone can hear me.Spears laying in the dirt.! ! ! !

The Lordʼs Resistance Army have attacked all the

! ! ! ! surrounding villages. There is nowhere that is safe from the! ! ! ! LRA.

A hand picks the spears up out of the dirt, ties them together. Cut to a man closing a flimsy door.! ! ! ! There is nowhere that is safe from the LRA, they are killing

Camera cuts to a child ̓ s bloody, disfigured face.

! ! ! ! mutilating

Cuts to a quick shot of a man holding a child ̓ s lip to a knife. Cuts to another shot of a child their nose cut off.! ! ! ! and abducting children and forcing them to become fighters.

Child walks on dirt road with a bloody machete in hand, twirling it by his side.

! ! ! ! The people here are fleeing. They are desperate.

Group of people walking down dirt road together. Camera pans past woman and children standing alone in empty village. Pans across people gathered in a circle crying,

screaming.! ! ! ! The ones that are staying are forming a resistance.

Group of men walking into bush territory with arrows on their back. Facing forward with cross bows in hand.

! ! ! ! This is Camarade Belinda, from the Dungu village reporting! ! ! ! in on the community radio.


28



Hand holding phone. Camera follow the cord up to his mouth. Camera cuts to the men with the arrows walking through bush, cross bow and arrows in hand.

! ! ! ! Something is going to have to change soon or I am afraid

! ! ! ! there is not going to be many of us left.

Men pulling cross bow string back.

! ! ! ! Please if you can hear this, help.

Arrows being picked up off the ground. Men walking through bush cutting their way through by machete.

In text: ! ! SINCE 2008 THE LRA HAS VIOLENTLY EXPANDED INTO! ! ! THREE COUNTRIES

Info graphic:! ! African continent. Zoom to Central African Republic, Sudan and! ! ! D.R. Congo

In text:! ! LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR ATROCITIES EVER! ! ! MAKES IT TO WESTERN MEDIA! ! ! INVISIBLE CHILDREN PRESENTS! ! ! THE NEW CHAPTER: THE PROTECTION PLAN

[MUSIC] Ultility cargo vehicle drive down a muddy, unpaved road. Mud splashes everywhere. View from someone facing the back of the vehicle, can see down his rifle.

Camera pans and watches people watch the vehicle as it moves down the road.

A man stands out of a vehicle with a large gun. Kid riding a bike past village

In text: ! ! IN 2010 MEMBERS OF THE INVISIBLE CHILDREN TEAM! ! ! TRAVELED TO LRA AFFECTED AREAS OF D.R.CONGO! ! ! TO VISIT REMOTE VILLAGES TO SEE HOW WE COULD HELP

Two children, boy and girl sit next to each other in village.

In text:! ! Limai, D.R. Congo

Civilians walk and ride a bike down dirt road. Cut to view of village, smoke coming out of home make out of straw. Cut to shot of Laren Poole, a founder of Invisible Children, with hand rubbing his temple.

Laren Poole:! ! Um, we just got to Limai, and um, a Congolese guy was out! ! ! ! in the bush fishing and hunting and he was shot in leg by the! ! ! ! Congolese government cause they thought he was the LRA.


29



Man laying on ground with large open wound in his thigh, woman tending to him.

! ! ! ! Heʼs been for like, 24 hours already and he has a huge! ! ! ! gunshot wound. This place is so remote, thereʼs no cell

! ! ! ! service.

Close up of mans bloody leg. Cut to Laren hiking through bush with guide and man with gun.

! ! ! ! This village had no way to communicate with Dungu that this! ! ! ! man needs medical attention (map of distance between! ! ! ! Limai and Dungu).

Laren speaks to camera in front of large group people to one another in native language.

! ! ! ! Heʼs telling us that the LRA is like 10, 5 kilometers away! ! ! ! from here. There are groups that operate, like, around this! ! ! ! area because weʼre close to Garamaba Forest which is a! ! ! ! national forest that the LRA operate out of. This area is still! ! ! ! very much at risk. (map illustrating Garamba national forest,! ! ! ! LRA ground, Limai and Dungu)

Shot of Girl standing on her own. Shot of man against an orange sky with large rifle. Cut to scene in hospital where a man is shielding his face with rag. Man lays on his side on hospital bed. Cut back to man laying outside with large gunshot wound to the thigh.

! ! ! ! Seeing that man laying there on the ground shot, I realize! ! ! ! how much we take for granted the ability to pick up the! ! ! ! phone and call for help when we need it. These villages are! ! ! ! literally cut off from the outside world. Itʼs making it! ! ! ! impossible for us to know when the LRA attacks or even! ! ! ! when kids escape and manage to return to the villages.

Shot of dirt road leading up to a church. Laren stands with a man outside.

Laren Poole: ! ! What do these people think of the LRA, I mean, what did

! ! ! ! they think when they came and started abducting children?

Camera pans to man, Abbe Benoit, from the Peach and Justice Commission.

Abe Benoit:! ! ! (In French and subtitles) The problem is there are hundreds! ! ! ! of children who have been abducted by the LRA. LIke this! ! ! ! girl came from southern Sudan.


30



Camera sees young girl standing behind Abbe, looking skeptically at the lens.

! ! ! ! She needs psychological help and help reintegrating with the! ! ! ! community.

Girl looks down at ground.

Laren Poole: ! ! How long was she in the LRA?

Girl continues looking down. Woman, Mami, also an LRA abductee that defected and a forced wife asks girl Laren ̓ s question in French.

Girl:! ! ! ! Two years. ! !Mami:!! ! ! (Asks how old she is in French)

Girl: ! ! ! ! I am 16 years old (subtitled)

Mami:!! ! ! (to Laren) She is 16. She was a wife to commander called! ! ! ! Wai Wai.

Close up of girls face. Cuts to Abbe Benoit.

Abbe Benoit:! ! These are human beings who are being destroyed by! ! ! ! Joseph Kony

Camera moves to woman, Jolly Okot from Invisible Children.

Jolly Okot:! ! ! Iʼm asking if she knows how to use a gun. She said! ! ! ! yeah, she has been trained.

Abbe Benoit:! ! Now they are escaping from the LRA, we need to take care! ! ! ! of them, to help build their new life.

Camera shows Laren, Jolly, Abbe and girl standing together in circle.

Jolly Okot:! ! ! I am telling her to be very grateful to God because she came! ! ! ! back without a child. I also got abducted and came back

! ! ! ! without a child.

Laren Poole:! ! Sheʼs so young.

Close up of girl, tilts head down, almost smiles.Cut to Laren and Jolly getting into a vehicle. They sit inside.


31



Jolly Okot:! ! ! Sheʼs really young and all she wants to do is go back to! ! ! ! school. (Gets emotional) Iʼve seen more difficult things but! ! ! ! looking at this girl... it has been really... I donʼt know how to! ! ! ! describe it. Itʼs hard. Itʼs hard. Itʼs really really hard. (Begins " " " " to cry, wipes her tears.)

" " " " Why would you be like somebodyʼs wife at the age of 14,! ! ! ! you know? That is high level of trauma. There is nothing! ! ! ! else, that is why I couldnʼt handle it. I couldnʼt. It is very hard.! ! ! ! And that is one out of many, so..

[Music] Cut to girls gathered, laughing. Next frame, small girl staring into camera.Children gathered. Close up Jolly speaking to camera.

Jolly Okot:! ! ! I think itʼs the role of Invisible Children to help educate the! ! ! ! world again about what it happening in Congo. So I feel it is

! ! ! ! our responsibility since we did it for northern Uganda. I feel a! ! ! ! rehabilitation center in the Congo would help so much to! ! ! ! bring back these children into a normal lifestyle.

Boys standing in village, looking stoic.

! ! ! ! There has to be a message of peace. There has to be a! ! ! ! message of hope to the people of Congo.

Camera cuts to girl from earlier smiling. Camera pans to scene of village center with children playing.

Laren Poole:! ! Visiting these areas out here itʼs very clear to see the LRA is! ! ! ! alive and very able to continue to terrorize the population.! ! ! ! Though the problem is very serious, the community has! ! ! ! banded together to come up with some ideas on how to! ! ! ! protect themselves and welcome home the child soldiers.

Images of community together, offering project plans for endeavors. Family of 5 stands together outside of home. Mother stands with two children in large group, looks sorrowful.

Camera back to Laren as he speaks. Images of community erecting signal tower and laying down infrastructure for radio networks.

! ! ! ! From setting up HF radios in remote villages to create early! ! ! ! warning radio networks to having aspirations to have a! ! ! ! locally run rehabilitation center for ex-combats.


32



Images of community rolling out blue print plan for grassroots organized rehabilitation center. Men share in the displaying - team explaining the details.

! ! ! ! Theyʼve already done a lot with the little resources they have! ! ! ! and through out travels we have documented the projects! ! ! ! that show the best potential to save lives with little! ! ! ! investment. Weʼve compiled all of these projects in a! ! ! ! document called ʻThe Protection Planʼ. The best way you! ! ! ! can help the Protection Plan become a reality is sign up for! ! ! ! ʼ25ʼ. 25 is a worldwide event happening April 25th.

Images of the plan and logo mixed with fast moving shots of Invisible Children helping out locally and on the ground. Cut to image of Invisible Children 25 demonstration with a group of young people gathered with their fingers to their mouths.

! ! ! ! Weʼre asking thousands of participants to unite in solidarity! ! ! ! for the victims who are being silenced by the LRA by going! ! ! ! silent for 25 hours.

Image of community members; working together, carrying something down a dirt road.

! ! ! ! Weʼre hoping that silence will be heard worldwide and brings! ! ! ! attention to this emergency. When you make this! ! ! ! commitment we ask that you pledge to raise at least 25! ! ! ! dollars to help fund the Protection Plan. Itʼs simple. One

! ! ! ! dollar for every hour your going silent to help fund these! ! ! ! life-saving projects. Stand in solidarity with the victims of the! ! ! ! most neglected humanitarian crisis of the 21st century.

In text:! ! SIGN UP AT INVISIBLECHILDREN.COM


33



Appendix 2

Child Soldier Rehabilitation - Webisode 2 TranscriptFilm from Invisible ChildrenRuntime: 3:44

Transcribed: Jacqueline Smith! ! 17 March 2011

Scene opens with a boy holding machine gun over his shoulder looking down into camera.[MUSIC] He walks through a field has the sun goes down, with machine gun over his shoulder.He walks along dirt road, in the distance you can see a small village.He puts his hands up as he approaches the village; stops at a man with a bow and arrow pointed at him.

In text:! ! DURING THE PEAK OF ABDUCTIONS BY THE LORDS! ! ! RESISTANCE ARMY IN NORTHERN UGANDA

! ! ! THERE WERE THREE FULL-TIME REHABILITATION CENTERS! ! ! RECEIVING RETURNING CHILD SOLDIERS

! ! ! IN THE LRA AFFECTED AREAS OF CENTRAL AFRICAN! ! ! REPUBLIC AND D.R. CONGO THERE ARE NONE

Boy sits as desk as man in background makes phone call; sound of a transistor in

background.

Laren Poole:! ! Currently in Congo there is these locally run Congolese! ! ! ! teams that travel to really remote villages to find kids who! ! ! ! have escaped from the LRA; they are crucial in the! ! ! ! rehabilitation and return process of formerly abducted child! ! ! ! soldiers.!

As Laren speaks, boy sitting at desk looking down at the ground as two men talk on the phone and communicate. Scene shifts to a van, boy gets in and as the van drives away he is visible through the back window looking out.

! ! ! ! The funding for these teams only allow them to put! ! ! ! returnees into host homes, or strangers homes while they! ! ! ! they kids family.

Boy walks up to a straw house with two strangers standing outside; scene shift to a hand tracing over a map.


34



" " " " There is no formal rehabilitation in this region to ex-LRA! ! ! ! combatants

Boy walks out of bush, surrender his gun to villagers.

In text:! ! THERE IS ONE CONGOLESE MAN WHO WANTS TO CHANGE! ! ! THAT

Man speaks to camera

Abbe Benoit:! ! (from the Peace and Justice Commission)" " " " The problem is there are hundreds of children who have! ! ! ! been abducted by the LRA. Now they are escaping from the! ! ! ! LRA, we need to take care of them, to help them build their! ! ! ! new life.

Scene break

Matthew Brubacher:! (UN Demobilization)" " " " Itʼs really important to have a rehabilitation center thatʼs run! ! ! ! by the local community where people can come in and have! ! ! ! a certain time to adapt.

Boy from all the previous scenes is seen walking with a man up stairs into a building Scene break

Els De Temmerman:! (LRA Rehabilitation Specialist)

" " " " All the children who have come back from the LRA are! ! ! ! extremely traumatized. They have suffered the worst abuses! ! ! ! and have been forced to commit the worst abuses. Most of! ! ! ! them were forced to kill, some were even forced to kill their! ! ! ! own relatives.

Profile of child ̓ s face; man handing clean clothes to a child.

! ! ! ! Then they were abused themselves. They need to go! ! ! ! through trauma counseling as they did in northern Uganda,! ! ! ! and the most important part of that is they need to express

! ! ! ! themselves, they need to bring out the trauma.

Boy in casual clothes, drawing and talking with older man outside.[MUSIC] Boy drawing with colored pencils by himself As he draws, flash backs (real footage) of being in the bush with the LRA fighting cut in; picture he draws has man with machete to his neck, blood around him.Flashback shows chaos and burning.


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Camera pans slowly across his face.

Laren Poole:! ! The local community has plans for the regions first! ! ! ! rehabilitation center. The curriculum that Els and the! ! ! ! community has developed up here is really important and it

! ! ! ! relies a lot on art therapy.

Boy drawing; close up of his face as he flashes back to holding a gun in the bush.

! ! ! ! Kids are able to draw the experiences they were forced to! ! ! ! live through in the bush. One of the most symbolic things! ! ! ! she has the kids do is literally burn the clothes they come out! ! ! ! of the bush wearing.

Boy standing in circle with other kids holding camouflage apparel. Throws it into fire and watches it burn.

Scene refocus on Laren

! ! ! ! Itʼs a symbol of entering normal society once again and no! ! ! ! longer be a fighter but a productive member of society and a! ! ! ! kid once again.

[MUSIC] Kids kick soccer ball in grassy lawn Same boy that has been seen all along plays with friends when doors to center open and his parents walk through. He gives his father a hug and closes his eyes as his father holds him.

In text:! ! HELP BUILD THE FIRST LRA REHABILITATION CENTER IN! ! ! CONGO

! ! ! INVISIBLECHILDREN.COM


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Appendix 3

Early Warning Radio Network - Webisode 3 TranscriptFilm from Invisible ChildrenRuntime: 4:10

Transcribed:!Jacqueline Smith! ! 18 March 2011

Soldiers walking across dirt into a village; boot with a rip in it; a man running his hands over bushes - voice over:

Ida Sawyer! ! ! ! (Human Rights Watch)! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! Between December 14th and 17th 2009, the Lordʼs! ! ! ! ! Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group carried out! ! ! ! ! a horrific attack in the Mokombo area of Otoweli! ! ! ! ! district. A group of about 20 combatants, and they! ! ! ! !

were pretending at this time to be Congolese army! ! ! ! ! soldiers.

Woman barefoot in dress, camera only focuses on her feet. Pans to mans feet in big black boots and gun pointed into dirt.

! ! ! ! ! They passed a woman and they asked her “Excuse! ! ! ! ! me maʼam, is there a school nearby where kids might! ! ! ! ! be studying?” and she said “No school is not in! ! ! ! ! session” and he said “Well what about a church, is! ! ! ! ! there a place where people might be gathered around

! ! ! ! ! praying?” and she said “No, itʼs not Sunday” and he! ! ! ! ! said, “What about a market?” and she said “Oh yeah,! ! ! ! ! thereʼs a fishermanʼs market just up the road there,! ! ! ! ! Mabanga Ya Talo.

Map shows area and highlights the LRA route in red from December 13th to 14th.

" " " " " So the LRA combatants moved up the road to this! ! ! ! ! fishermenʼs market and the LRA surrounded them,! ! ! ! ! tied people up, looted goods and then pushed people! ! ! ! ! out into the forest along the path.

Men in camouflage walk into market with guns; women drop food items; a basket of corn is thrown into the air; feet run along the ground."

" " " " " All along the way they started killing people that they! ! ! ! ! had abducted and those people were chopped to! ! ! ! ! death with heavy wooden sticks and others were tied! ! ! ! ! to trees before their heads were chopped with axes.


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Image of a bloody hand fallen to the side. Map shows furthering route of the LRA as they journeyed on with crosses denoting all the murders that took place along the way.

" " " " " Just before they got to the village of Tapili, the chief

! ! ! ! ! there got a message that maybe something was! ! ! ! ! happening but it wasnʼt at all clear. Weird noises,! ! ! ! ! something might be going on.

Men on motorcycles talking in confusion. Men riding through village into bush.

" " " " " So he the chief went with another Congolese army! ! ! ! ! soldier by motorcycle just up the road and there they! ! ! ! ! ambushed by the LRA. The LRA killed both of them! ! ! ! ! and gouged their eyes out and burned their! ! ! ! ! motorcycle.

Image of bloody hand; kids running down dirt road; trail of blood in dirt

" " " " " Then they entered the town of Tapili, abducted other! ! ! ! ! and killed many more. They continued their journey,! ! ! ! ! the LRA went from village to village along this 105! ! ! ! ! kilometer route abducting more civilians and killing! ! ! ! ! them along the way.

Info-graphic map illustrates the route the LRA took over the course of 4 days, killing civilians.

In text:! ! IDA SAWYER IS A RESEARCHER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH! ! !

! ! ! SHE WAS THE FIRST TO DOCUMENT THE CHRISTMAS! ! ! MASSACRES!

! ! ! THE LRA KILLED MORE THAN 345 CIVILIANS AND ABDUCTED! ! ! 250 OTHERS INCLUDING OVER 80 CHILDREN

Ida Sawyer:! ! ! ! This is one of the 5 worst attacks ever committed by! ! ! ! ! the LRA in the groups brutal history. From researching

! ! ! ! ! previous LRA attacks it became clear to us that better! ! ! ! ! communication and an early warning mechanism are! ! ! ! ! crucial both to more effectively protect civilians in at! ! ! ! ! risk areas for LRA attacks and to be able to respond! ! ! ! ! and go after the LRA group when there is an attack to! ! ! ! ! try and apprehend the groups leader.


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Clips of archaic looking radio, hand flipping switches; children playing in dirt in center of village Close images of men standing; one by himself in the village; a man in the bush as the sun set; Camera looks down the gun of a man sitting in the back of a cargo truck.

Scene break [MUSIC]

Men carrying large electronic piece into house; image of them lying on the ground figuring it out. Camera cut to Laren;

Laren Poole:! ! ! Our first day in Congo weʼre uh, weʼre procuring HF! ! ! ! ! radios in order to take from Goma up to Dungu Congo! ! ! ! ! where the LRA has been affecting civilian population.! ! ! ! ! We were able to take 12 HF radios up there to expand

! ! ! ! ! the Congo Early Warning Radio Network

Walkie-talkies tuning into an Invisible Children frequency; people communicating and gathering around the network.Images of community putting equipment together

! ! ! ! ! So weʼre going to set up this HF radio, itʼs going to go! ! ! ! ! in this church. Itʼll get twice daily broadcast about the! ! ! ! ! LRA; where they are and where theyʼre active. And! ! ! ! ! they can also, if thereʼs an attack or a sighting, they! ! ! ! ! can send that information into Dungu which is kind of

! ! ! ! ! like the military base hub up here.

Whole community working together to ensure HF radio works; Laren works with local community putting signals up.Community members install solar panels on the church Images of the old equipment; Images of members of community using and communicating through devices

Matthew Brubacher:! ! The only mode of communication is through these HF! ! ! ! ! radios which are basically solar powered radios that! ! ! ! ! are able to transmit long distances, 500 to 1,000

! ! ! ! ! kilometers so communities that are very very far apart! ! ! ! ! can start communicating with one another.

Men in the community learning to actually wire the HF radios and stringing cables along the village to create an infrastructure. Group growing in participation.


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Jolly Okot:! ! ! ! The roads in congo are very bad and as such if there! ! ! ! ! is a radio communication it would give enough time to! ! ! ! ! save lives

Ida Sawyer:! ! ! ! If there were communications, if there were a way for

! ! ! ! ! the people in Mabanga Ya Talo and Nokondo villages! ! ! ! ! to report somewhere and let them know - if there are! ! ! ! ! people there to respond when there is an attack they! ! ! ! ! can help them and maybe all of those people might! ! ! ! ! not have been killed and abducted

In text:! ! HELP EXPAND THE CONGO EARLY WARNING NETWORK!

! ! ! AND PREVENT THE NEXT LRA MASSACRE! ! !

! ! ! INVISIBLECHILDREN.COM


The Protection Plan: A case study in post-humanitarianism

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