From YouTube to The New York Times: KONY 2012 and The Changing Direction of the Media

Great Debates
1

**One week ago today, in a video posted on YouTube, filmmaker and narrator, Jason Russell, at the end of the video, said:

“It’s always been that the decisions made by the few, with the money and power, dictated the priorities of their government and the stories in the media. They determine the lives and the opportunities of their citizens. But now there is something bigger than that. The people of the world see each other, and can protect each other. It’s turning the system upside down. And it changes everything.”
Today, in The New York Times, Noam Coam, in an analysis of the KONY 2012 video on YouTube, wrote:

“Something changed with the Kony video. Watch the nearly 30-minute video, and you will note that so much of it is not about Mr. Kony, but about the viewer, especially the untapped power of the viewer.”

The video was posted on YouTube on March 5, 2012 and the story was published in The New York Times on March 9, 2012. Five days. A testament to the power of YouTube, Twitter, Google, even the Straight Dope Message Board. On March 8, 2012, threads were posted about the Kony video. Four days. A testament to the Straight Dope’s mission of fighting ignorance.

I agree with Noam Cohen - it’s not about Richard Kony – it’s about KONY 2012. Consider this: Because of KONY 2012, Richard Kony is in The New York Times, and even Jason Russell, showed an issue of The New York Times, in the YouTube video, with the headline KONY CAPTURED, saying, “This is the dream.” In other words, that is the goal of KONY 2012. As of this post, there are 74 million viewers of the Kony video. 74 million viewers of a YouTube video in one week!

Now, the many are dictating the priorities of their government and the stories in the media. And it changes everything.

Does it? Has anything changed with the Kony video?

2

Claims about how the internet has effect a massive transfer of power away from the ruling elite and into the hands of the people are frequently made, and rarely vindicated. Remember the “Twitter Revolution” that was supposed to topple the government of Iran?

3

Actually, the US mission to Africa having to do with the LRA started what, four months before the video came out? The OP has a serious deficiency in his timeline if he is arguing that the video represents “the many” directing “the priorities of the government.”

Rebecca Black’s “Friday” video has now amassed 200 million YouTube hits, and went from being posted on March 11 to the pages of the Times on March 23. Twelve days. Twelve days to infamy. Is that a testament to YouTube and Twitter? How about the power of the SDMB, which had its first thread (as far as I can tell) dedicated to that snappy song on March 19th? Sure, it took a little longer for “Friday” to be picked up by the Grey Lady, but considering the gravity of a sadistic warlord on one hand, and an annoying song never heard on the radio on the other, I think Rebecca Black’s accomplishment is more impressive.

I can only think that I’m not clear what the hell the OP’s point actually is, other than perhaps that the Kony video totally rocked his world.

4

The mission to Africa was mentioned by Jason Russell in the video. You would have known that had you watched the video.

5

Yea, I think that’s my main problem with the KONY 2012 thing. The US gov’t wasn’t really ignoring the issue, and their actions had already been met with a decent amount of success. While I like the general idea of the movement, they would’ve been better off picking something the gov’t was actually ignoring rather then the LRA.

6

Most of the viral videos really only go viral after being broadcast by some other media, such as the New York Times, or an American network. So unless this video went viral on its own, it doesn’t show a trend. How many YouTube videos get millions and millions of views without being advertised on other media?

7

That’s all well and good for Dick Kony, but what’s he doing about his asshole brother Joe?

8

Then I have two questions: first, why did you state that “the many are directing the priorities of the government,” and two, I’m not sure I understand why the Kony video is any different in a societal sense than Rebecca Black making her way from YouTube to the New York Times.

Is your point that videos go viral and now that is part of mainstream news? That’s not exactly new: CNN has had a “Viral Video of the Day” segment for at least two years. Even before YouTube, the mainstream media had a penchant for reporting on news stories that were generated outside of their own organizations. For example, in the 1990s, it was a topic of some debate whether the network evening news really ought to be reporting on stories developed by the Drudge Report.

So, why do you think Kony is different than anything that has happened before? Because as far as I can see, the Kony video is an interesting example of how one can get attention for a particular cause, but it doesn’t really seem break any new ground in terms of the media at large.

9

Yes.

In the 2000s, it is a topic of some debate whether the network evening news really ought to be reporting on the same stories.

10

So in this case, is YouTube the 800 pound gorilla or the elephant in the room? :slight_smile:

11

I think that the incredible ease of communication brought about by social networks like FB and Twitter and sites like Youtube can certainly help “the many dictate the priorities of their government,” but honestly I believe they’re being given too much credit lately. Take the KONY 2012 movement for example. Jason Russell has been around for a long time. His efforts have ALREADY lead the US gov’t to change it’s foreign policy with respect to the LRA, long before his video was posted and exploded across Facebook.

I’m sure the new social media helped him and his group along, but I don’t believe it was necessary by any means. He and his friends/coworkers have started an organization, raised money, organized rallies, booked public speaking opportunities, and have basically been doing good old-fashioned activism for a decade. The extensive traveling, public outreach, and fundraising they’ve done requires dedication, strong leadership, and incredible organizational skills. It’s these qualities that have allowed them to succeed, not FB or Twitter. The KONY 2012 video is basically an insurance policy - they’ve already made huge steps towards their goal, now they’re making one final push to ensure that their final goal is achieved before a fickle public chooses something else to care about. The fact that they have the foresight to plan this, and the resources to make a compelling, well-produced video speaks to their competence and determination. I submit that people that competent and determined don’t need FB or Twitter to succeed. If they were living 150 years ago, they’d be achieving similar ends with a printing press. They’re merely using the communication tools popular in their time.

I read an article (I believe in the New Yorker) comparing the Arab Spring with the civil rights movement in the US in the 1950’s. One of the points it brought up was that the lunch counter sit-ins of the 1950’s swept across the nation in a matter of weeks, despite a lack of cell phones or computers. It spread via groups on college campuses and churches, groups that met face-to-face in brick-and-mortar buildings that had an organized, well-established hierarchy. This hierarchy allowed them to more easily coordinate with other groups and to ensure that the sit-ins proceeded in a relatively orderly and peaceful fashion. By contrast, groups that form online, especially those that form quickly during times of duress, are diffuse and lack leadership, or sometimes even a cohesive ideology or set of grievances.

I guess my point is that while the new social media are very useful tools for activism/revolution, I’m not convinced they’re really a game-changer. What really makes it possible is communication among the masses, for which all you really need is a printing press and a mostly literate population.

12

It did go viral on it’s own. That’s why KONY 2012 made front page news.

13

Why are you linking to the video every time you mention it in this thread? Are you advertising it?

14

I’m going to make a video about fixing the economy, ending war and terror, and giving everyone a pony. Hopefully if everyone Likes it on Facebook we’ll get all those problems fixed.

15

Before the Kony video, how many Americans do you think were even aware of the LRA? Maybe two million, if that?

How many Americans do you believe are aware of the poor economy and the war on terror? Maybe two hundred million?

Call me crazy, but I would hypothesize that the importance of raising awareness about an issue is somehow linked to how many people are unaware of an important issue.

16

I become aware of new issues every day, as well as new funny cat videos. Awareness alone doesn’t mean much. The NYT article in the OP is less about the specifics the LRA and the situation in Uganda and more about a video going viral. The fact that something has gone viral is often more interesting than the underlying subject of the viral video/article/email/tweet/whatever because powerful groups have their own ideas they want to disseminate and issues they want to raise among a cohort that’s more in tune with the internet than television and radio, and it’s helpful to determine if making something go viral is more of an art or if it can be reduced to a science.

From that standpoint, the specifics of Joseph Kony and the LRA are much less important. People outside of Uganda may now feel a vague animosity towards Kony, but so what? The compelling aspect is that people are paying attention to this issue rather than arguably more important issues, all because of a video.

17

I’m referencing it. “KONY 2012” is not the same as “KONY 2012”. “KONY 2012” refers to the video whereas “KONY 2012” refers to the campaign.

18

Hey, can I get a link to that video?

19

They should have titled the video, “Kony 2012” and named the campaign “KONY 2012”. But they didn’t.

KONY 2012. Does it refer to the video or the campaign?

20

I wrote in the OP, “The video was posted on YouTube on March 5, 2012 and the story was published in The New York Times on March 9, 2012.” :confused:

The story was about about the video and the video was about the campaign and the campaign is about Richard Kony. :smack:
Sometimes you don’t understand what you understand…