Talk:Kony 2012 campaign faces ridicule, praise

I interviewed Josh Schuler, director of programming at Christian Fellowship Church in Evansville, Indiana on April 19, 2012.

Some comments
--Pi zero (talk) 02:08, 27 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Original reporting gets rigorously reviewed too, including verification.
 * I don't think I've ever seen OR that didn't need some synthesis sources for background information, so it's surprising there are none listed here atm.
 * Verifying the OR requires detailed reporter's notes (which are either provided here on the collaboration page, or if they shouldn't be released publicly, they're emailed to scoop and that fact is noted here). But here atm there are no detailed reporter's notes.
 * The lede should define the news event and clarify its significance, but the first paragraph here does not do those things. Hint: with an interview, generally, the interview is the news event.
 * The headline should be a sentence, usually in active voice; this headline is a noun.

I am writing this story as a collaboration with 2 other people. We have divided the work amongst us, and I was given the interview and video work, while they will provide a background to invisible children and the Kony 2012 movement and another will be contributing data with a chart. We just wanted to create a page so we all three can jump on the article and contribute. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by KMCrane (talk • contribs) 03:29, 27 April 2012‎


 * Interesting collaborative approach.


 * My comments stand; they flag out concerns more easily addressed sooner than later, and before the article is submitted for review.


 * As you are responsible for the interview, note particularly my comments re OR notes.


 * --Pi zero (talk) 13:28, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Here is the link to the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrN9nVZEm0c&feature=plcp KMCrane (talk) 02:47, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

REPORTER'S NOTES: Josh Schuler, the director of programming at Christian Fellowship Church in Evansville Indiana

1. When did you visit Uganda? and what area were you in? visited Uganda twice, once in 1997 and again in 2010. We were based out of Kampala which is Uganda’s capital. but traveled East to Jinja; on the second trip went as far west as Masaka (second time mainly stayed in Kampala and Jinja)

2. How long were you there both times? 10 days both times

3. What did you do while you were there? We spent majority of our time either speaking to school children in orphanages, baby homes, or about 60% was spent in men and women prisons in Uganda. in and around Kampala

4. How did the people respond to you while you were there and working with them? Uganda is one of the unique places left in the world where Americans are somewhat revered; part of the reason we went William Ssentumbwe in Uganda. William has been working in a relationship with the Uganda prison system which the prison commissioner is a cabinet level position in Uganda; so many prisioners; he goes in and does work with inmates and uses American’s as a way to build his platform. Kind of validates him as a spokesman. 5. Can you explain your experiences both times you went? How you felt/what you learned. I don’t think I necessarily taught them anything; I was more taught. It was extemely perspective shaping; it gets you out of this box 2/3rds of the worlds population makes less than a dollar a day. Yet they have a joy a hope a resilance that you think they shouldn’t have.

6. What is your take on Kony 2012? “I think that Joseph Kony is a madman and should be brought to justice.” I know that there is some criticism, in particularly the campaign and Invisible Children as an organization, I really think that some of that stuff is unfounded and people don’t understand what it’s like for the Ugandans and there are lots of organizations that get out there and do awareness

“If you like at Invisible Children’s budget, a lot of it is awareness; raising money so they can build awareness, not necessarily so they can execute justice, because they are not a justice organization.”

“I think there is this dissonance between how bad it is for that part of the world and wanting to nit-pick somebody.” Because we’ve seen unfortunately too many examples where an organization goes out to do something and we find things we don’t like about them and so that kinda knocks them off the white horse.”

“honestly even if Invisible Children was completely illegitimate, Kony is still a madman and he still needs to be brought to justice.”

“If Uganda was resource rich to the degree that Iraq was, in the United States we would be talking about Joseph Kony to the same degree that we talk about Saddam Hussein, it’s just that Uganda is not full of oil.” There is no economic benefit for the US to go prosecute him (Kony), it’s purely justice.

7. How do you suppose we make change on the Kony issue? “awareness is one step to take; it sounds old school but Calling congressmen, senators and lobbying for them to take action. there is legislation out there. There is an organization International Justice Mission which is a prosecuting organization working around the world for issues with social justice, prosecuting cases with sex slavery and child labor around the world; Doing very good work, working with law enforcement in countries that are prosecuting well. There are bills out there trying to allocate dollars that are already in the US budget to continue to fund the work of these groups in countries to bring people to justice. If Americans say this is an issue, theoretically representative government should say, okay then that’s what we will do. We’ve done that to some degree. Obama has authorize; almost in the heels of the Kony campaign, theres been an increase in military presence of African countries plus US trained Uganda troops which is a good thing. It’s hard to find him. That action has come out of the increase awareness and the call to action.

8. Do you believe Joseph Kony is the biggest issue in Uganda/Africa or is there another issue that people fail to recognize? “Joseph Kony is part of a lingering issue. and that goes all the way back to the 50s and the effects of decolonization; Uganda was a British protectorate got its independence, and the history of uganda since its independence was one dictatorial regime after another and Africa is tribal; when France and Belgium and Britain came in colonized africa. they drew hard boundaries across tribal lines so you had countries that had tribes that didn’t get along. You had two different tribes that have done this power swap back and forth. LRA, Kony actually inherited the movement and it did not begin violent, but he inherited it from a woman who kind of had this spiritual component to in response to tribal tensions between who is in power and who is not. Kony represents the tribe that is left out of power, as Yoweri Museveni, who is the current president of Uganda they are actual different tribes. So this tribal thing that is at stake. Even taking Kony out, it would definitely do a lot to bring some stability, but there is still rising tension in Uganda, among people who are under the age of 25. LRA tracker.

9. Do you think simply by raising awareness through videos and other media devices that Invisible Children is using the right approach? If not, what direction do you think they should take to make a difference. “Its really effective if you keep it in terms of awareness. but you have to start with awareness. The value of awarness is huge. And the hope is with enough awareness gets you to the point where you can’t be blind to it and you have to do something. or if you don’t do something, you chose not to something. which is different than ‘I didn’t know’

10. Have you had any experience with any children there that have been directly affected by Kony? NO. 11. With all the media hype going on right now with Kony, do you believe that the issue has actually decreased, and the media is stating facts that were more accurate a few years ago? All I know is that it’s still happening; doesn’t matter if it has decreased because people are still dying or being captured.

12. Do you know if the Ugandan government is doing something to stop Joseph Kony and if so, what are their procedures? I remember on my first trip US government training uganda tropps to try to track him down; hard so easy to pay people off; Kony and the LRA has been pushed out of Uganda. But they still do raids into northern Uganda. Taking Kony out, doesn’t fix all of the problems, it would def. start to help with some of it. And I think the corruption stuff could actually be solved democratically. Kony is smart; if he wasn’t then he wouldn’t still be alive. There have been decoys, there have been leutinents actually; I have a family member who is in the Royal Canadian Air Force who has been an UN Envoy and some of his missions has been in central Africa and one of his missions was an attempt to apprehend Kony and this was 10 years ago. Because he hasn’t been seen in public; he passes off a decoy.

KMCrane (talk) 17:41, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Video revision
Hey team, Now that the main content is laid down, I've got a video revision that is forthcoming. I put it back into develop. Crtew (talk) 21:35, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

Headline
Before this is resubmitted, it needs a new headline. This headline is too vague. Crtew (talk) 23:21, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

Internet hits
Where are you getting the "over 100 million views" and "104 million views" because YouTube is currently showing 88 million views?Crtew (talk) 23:51, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

On the actual Invisible Children website at the top they have the number of how many people have viewed it. So the 104 million views are from the Invisible Children website. KMCrane (talk) 19:43, 29 April 2012 (UTC)
 * It won't hurt to say what the website says as opposed to what YouTube says. The hits shown on a video on YouTube are often lower than the actual number of hits. I would maybe put the number at about 10 million not showing...20 is pushing it. Then again it all depends on how many people per day/hour etc view the video. So those numbers can fluctuate based on virility. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 20:05, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

Schuler interview
What has been bothering me about this interview is that he is never put into context. Is he a major figure in the movement? Why talk to him? If you're going after the decentralized nature of the movement, then don't shy away from saying that. You want people who are part of the movement giving their side in the face of criticism. But your readers need to be guided in knowing who he is, how he fits in, and how should we evaluate his comments. We're talking about a transition.... Crtew (talk) 05:35, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

We tried calling and emailing the Invisible Children organization and when you call no one answers the phone and it goes to voicemail stating that they are not taking calls and for the caller to email them. They do not provide an email on the voicemail so the email that I found was just from Googling it, in hopes that I had a legitimate email to them. They have yet to respond. I would like to talk to someone from the organization, but they don't make their staff readable available. KMCrane (talk) 19:48, 29 April 2012 (UTC)
 * If you know the first and last names of some of the people you are looking for, try seeing if they maybe have a Twitter profile or a separate Facebook profile etc. In today's world, even if you are famous, you have some way of having access to said accounts. Sometimes said profiles also link to other methods of contact or more. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 20:08, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

Lead
There is a focus forming here, but can you write a lead to capture it? Crtew (talk) 05:36, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

I checked back, but I still don't see any lead. What is the article about?Crtew (talk) 03:12, 30 April 2012 (UTC)

Fix Broken Link
The first site should be an external link. Crtew (talk) 05:39, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

NPOV
Where is the other side? The critique about the KONY organizers and movement? Crtew (talk) 05:40, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

Headline
Reminder: The headline should be a sentence, usually in active voice; this headline is a noun. --Pi zero (talk) 22:31, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

Wanna know what I think?
Looks like an article with loads of potential.....but reviewing this one is a bit over my head! I'm gonna let someone else review it! Sorry. Bddpaux (talk) 02:25, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Some salient points
I'm going to say a few things here....and I want all interested parties to take these comments humbly, as I know that most of you are students.....because I mean them to help.....they might read with a bit of an edge, but my motivations are about keeping a high standard here at this project. I'm going to ready this article, but you need to know a few things before I do:


 * 1) I got way too involved in cleaning up this article. I think the topic was important, and I think several people worked very hard on it! That was my motivation, but as a reviewer, one is to maintain a certain distance....and I crossed the line on this one.
 * 2) Based on many factors, I was not and am not pleased that my prompt to re-work para's 1 and 2 were utterly ignored. Yes, there was a half-hearted attempt to create a little bit of an inverted pyramid, but the first two paragraphs are the life-blood of any article! .....and they were.....er, searchingly awkward at best.
 * 3) Based on those two points alone, I should've not-readied this article an hour ago....however, I really want you to pay CLOSE ATTENTION to the next two points.
 * 4) Whenever you go diving into anything that has to do with a non-profit's "net income"......that's dangerous territory in a news article. Others may choose to do it.....but you're Wikinewsies and you're held to a high standard. When writing about a non-profits receipts....stick to total donations.....that's it. Now, you can carve up who/what/when/why/where about that money if you want to.....that's fine.....but people get very confused when you use "net profit" re: a non-profit.....and I was utterly confused......which was one reason that I deleted the pie chart.........is this an article about a campaign or what they're doing with their money? Essentially (I believe) what you were trying to say is: what have they done with that extra $4 million bucks? .....which would've been great fodder for another article. Not to mention the graphic had a glaring typo.
 * 5) Which brings me to my final point: this is a FINE EXAMPLE FOR ALL of what an article looks like, when it really should be 3 articles. What is here could've been treated to a menagerie of work......but there's TOO MUCH GOING ON HERE.....and it rambles and brambles and plods along venturing here and there and yonder. Short, pointed, quick and punchy.........that's the order of the day when you start out here.......if it's a Pulitzer you're aiming for.....that may come....and as you grow.....you're articles can grow too! But when starting out, KEEP IT TERSE! Didn't Stunk and White say it best when they wrote, "Omit needless words." God, I love that sentence!  -Bddpaux (talk) 00:28, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

Review of revision 1489039 [Passed]

 * Budd, there were some style issues (and some horrible orthographic errors) which I have now hopefully corrected. However, I had to remove the last image because of the "childern" mispelling. Please readd it after it has been fixed. Diego Grez (talk) 18:18, 5 May 2012 (UTC)
 * The graphic right below it had the same misspelling, but darn it, I missed this one; and for ref., see my admonition above. Sort of a once-per-lifetime kinda deal. Bddpaux (talk) 18:46, 6 May 2012 (UTC)
 * It's alright. Diego Grez (talk) 14:21, 3 June 2012 (UTC)