Jacqueline Smith

Global Media and Communications

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 fulllment of the requirements for the MSc in Global Media and Communication

Jacqueline Smith !

Global Media and Communications

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 am suggesting the representations were the beginning of a bond; one that subtly built a structure of conned 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-

prot founded in 2003, which serves aficted areas of northern Uganda and central Africa that have been inltrated 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, specically Invisible Childrens Protection Plan, adapted their visual and textual representation of crisis by using new media? and What implications does Invisible Childrens multi media approach have for the audiences? ! I chose this piece for analysis as it denes 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 exemplies, 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 rst completely interactive campaign theyve had. Invisible Children is a worthy

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Global Media and Communications

organization for study because of its belief that this kind of online exposure and interaction between organization, sufferer and audience will help revolutionize the way citizens see being active 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 dene 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 audiences 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, dening them in terms of this paper and a justication 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 ndings from my research and provide recommendations for further study on this topic.

Jacqueline Smith !

Global Media and Communications

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, specically 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 eld 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 dene themselves and their voices distinctly becomes key in nding 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 eld 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 Minears (1996) description of what is known as the crisis triangle. Crisis triangles exist at the junction of governments, news media and humanitarian organizations and they are inextricably linked in an ebb and ow 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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Global Media and Communications

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 condential 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 specically 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 denition 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 suffering black

African or starving African child. 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 old charity discourse whereby humanitarian organizations subscribe to representations of the Other as pragmatic amorality patronizing, ethnocentric, fatalistic (poverty just happens, like natural disasters) (Cohen, 2001, p. 178). He

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Global Media and Communications

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 rst 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 coexistence 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 nding such visual

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Global Media and Communications

and textual tensions. These tensions are important because it exemplies a transition or attempt at transitioning from an emotion-oriented appeal to an overall more reexive 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 1950s 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 The Great Family of Man, 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 moral universalism. 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 afiction. 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 nd a resolution to stop the suffering (Barthes, 1972, p.100-116; Tester, 2001, p.89). There is not sufcient 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 compassion fatigue 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 western world today. She discusses the state of audiences as having Ive-seen-it before syndrome, but even more interestingly, discusses compassion fatigue as a pronounced prior-restraint 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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Global Media and Communications

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 ll up and overow; minds and cultures dont. (2001, p.188)

What seems at rst 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 nancial 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 dening it as post-humanitarianism. She states,

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Global Media and Communications

!
! ! ! ! !

It is this humanitarian sensibility, characterized by textual games, low intensity emotional regimes and a technological imagination of instant gratication and justication, that we may call post-! humanitarian communication... the key feature of post-humanitarianism lies precisely in loosening up this necessary 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 reexive 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 gratication, 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 reexive particularism, or, a shift to promotion of individual judgement and decision. Instead of presenting the cause as an appeal for specic action based on assumed morality of the viewer, a reexive particularist appeal would try to be as void of viewer assumption as possible, presenting the scenario and then relying on the deliberative cognition reections 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 rst 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 posthumanitarianism backs away from emotion and justifying why you should care to make way for the viewers immediate reexive feelings.

Jacqueline Smith !

Global Media and Communications

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 posthumanitarian 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). Deemotionalizing 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 reunication 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 prole 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 other as a hopeless sufferer lacking context, to a more positivist approach with capabilities of more self-reexivity 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, specically Invisible Childrens Protection Plan, adapted their visual and textual representation of crisis by using new media?

What implications does Invisible Childrens 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 OHolloran 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 nd 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 us the other 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 dened 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 conventional and creative 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 closed text encourages little change in the socially constituted thought and an open 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 signicant

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 normal conditions. Using a critical framework that employs CDA, one can trace social themes and ties that relate language to other facets of the social, 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 orientation and representation. This sections involves the physical scene of suffering and uses analysis of the space-time temporality to involve the viewer in the communication event 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 urgency/nality 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 specically. The depictions and visual representation of communication events on suffering are intended to be seen by a specic 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 specication), which, together can be interpreted for clearer answers to the research endeavor (Chouliaraki, 2006, p. 86)

Methodological Justication Fairclough would consider this piece a creative communication event, meaning it engages multiple discourse types, or, audio and visual. Although I discuss CDA and visual analysis in
two separate sections I use Lillie Chouliarakis justication, 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 dene a catalyst and implications of this potential change. In terms of the specic 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 sufcient. That qualitative freedom also works as a drawback as there is not one denitive frame for use of CDA as a research method and with endless theoretical lenss 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 ndings 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, specically Invisible Childrens 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 rst webisode, a transistor tone comes across the speakers as a hand ips 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 dont know if anyone can hear me. The Lords 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 ghters. The people here are eeing. 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 identied by name, there are no specic 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 conict 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 denition to the concrete spatial or temporal realities of these events, thus, little orientation as to the proximity and urgency of the circumstances. ! I nd 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 (specically montages), of the webisode. Neither mode tells an unabridged story individually or together, rather, they have separate focuss that can interact in ways to create a humanitarian voice for Invisible Children. I hinge this tension together with chronotopicity, 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 its 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 in grave danger of an organizationally active (the 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.

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(Fig. 1)

In imagining a community or village in a conict 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 conict 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

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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 dened 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, Child Soldier Rehabilitation 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)

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(Fig. 3, 00:58)

(Fig. 4, 2:16)

(Fig. 5, 3:24) 19

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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 reexivity 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 conditional agent. 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 rst reading of the rst 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 rst 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 gure 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. !

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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 rst 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 youll nd 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 reexive 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 reexivity 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 dene 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 Bennetts SPIN Networks. 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 reexivity 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 uid 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
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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:

Theyve 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. Weve compiled all of these projects in a document called The Protection Plan. 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 prole or acquire them on

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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 lowintensity 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 reexivity 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 get involved) 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 dened 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 ght 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
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technologicalization of action simplies 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 nd and further the analysis of this shift to better understand its implications on a broader basis.

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Bibliography
Aguayo, A. J. Prospectus For Documentary Film and Social Change: A Rhetorical Investigation of Dissent. Intellectual Entrepreneurship. Austin, University of Texas. Andrejevic, M. (2002). "'The work of being watched: interactive media and the exploitation of self- disclosure'." Critical Studies in Media and Communication 19(2): 230-248. Barnett, C. (2004). Convening Publics: The Parasitical Space of Public Action. The SAGE Handbook of Political Geography. K. Cox, Low, M. and Robinson, J. London, Sage Publications: p. 403-417. Barthes, R. (1972). The Great Family of Man. Mythologies New York, Hill and Wang: p100-116. Bennett, L. (2003). New Media Power: The Internet and Global Activism. Contesting Media Power: Alternative Media in a Networked World. Rowman & Littleeld Publications. Boltanski, L. (1999). Distant Suffering. Politics, Morality and the Media. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Brecht, B. (1938). Popularity and Realism Browning Cole, E. C. M., Susan. (1992). Toward a Feminist Conception of Moral Life. Bloomington, IN, Indiana University Press. Chandler, D. (1994, 2001). "Encoding/Decoding." Semiotics for Beginners. Retrieved 3 August 2010, from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/. Chomsky, N. (1986). Knowledge of Language: its Nature, Origin and Use. New York, Praeger. Chouliaraki, L. (2006). The Spectatorship of Suffering. London, Sage Publications. Choularaki, L. (2010). Post-Humanitarianism: Beyond the politics of pity. London, Journal of Cultural Studies. Cohen, S. (2001). Images of Suffering. States of Denial: Knowing about atrocities and suffering P. Press, Blackwell Publishers, USA: 168-195. Coldevin, G., & Dyck, E. (1992). "Using Positive vs. Negative Photographs For Third-World Fund Raising." Journalism Quarterly Vol. 69(3): 8p. Cottle, S., & Nolan, D. (2007). "Global Humanitarianism and the Changing Aid-Media Filed " Journalism Studies Vol. 8(No. 6): 863-876. Cousins, J. M., Davis, R. L. (1974). 'Working Class Incorporation'. Social Analysis of Class Structure F. Parkin. London, Tavistock Publications Limited. Cross, A. R. (2006). Happy 125th Birthday American Red Cross! 1881-2006. A. R. Cross.
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Dogra, N. (2007). Reading NGOs Visually - Implications of Visual Images for NGO Management. London, Journal for International Development. Eco, U. (1981). The Role of the Reader. London, Hutchinson. Ellis, J. (2005). Seeing Things: Television in the Age of Uncertainty. London, Tauris. Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical Analysis of Media Discourse. Media Discourse, Arnold Publishers: p. 53- 74. Goodwin, C. (2001). Practices of Seeing Visual Analysis: an Ethnomethodological Approach. Handbook of Visual Analysis C. Jewitt, van Leeuwen, T. London, Sage Publication: P. 157. Habermas, J. (1984). LIfeworld and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason. Boston, Beacon Press. Hall, S. (1981). Racist Ideologies in the Media. Silver Linings: Some Strategies for the 80's. G. Bridges, Brunt, R. London, Lawrence and Wishart: p 28-52. Hall, S., Ed. ([1973], 1980). Encoding/Decoding. Culture, Media, Language: Working Papers in Cultural Studies 1972-79. London, Hutchinson. Home Box Ofce, I. (2010). The Lazarus Effect. Before and After photos. H. Documentaries. Kalichman S C; Simbayi, L. C. (2003). "HIV testing attitudes, AIDS stigma, and voluntary HIV counselling and testing in a black township in Cape Town, South Africa." Sex Transm Intefect 79: 442-447. Khalifa, M. (2010). The 'cause-marketing' conundrum. The Gateway newspaper. London, Career Gateways Limited. 27: p. 11. MacDonald, M. (2003). Chapter 1: Representation and Discourse. Exploring Media and Discourse, Arnold Publishers p. 9-26. Minear, L., Scott, C., & Weiss, T. G. (1994). The News Media, Civil War and Humanitarian Action. Boulder, Lynn Reinner Publishers, Inc. Moeller, S. (1999). Compassion Fatigue: how the media sell disease, famine, war and death. New York, Routledge. Mylonas, Y. (2007). "Crisis, Conspiracy and Rights; Imaginaries of Terrorism in Documentary Film." Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis across Disciplines 1(2): 96-116. Natsios, A. (1996). Illusions of Inuence: The CNN Effect in Complex Emergencies. From Massacres to Genocide: The Media, Public Policy and Humanitarian Crisis. R. I. Rotberg, & Weiss, T. G. Cambridge, World Peace Foundation. Pickering, M. (2001). Chapter 3: The Concept of the Other. Stereotyping: The Politics of Representation. Houndsmills, Palgrave Macmillan: 264p.

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Porter, E. (2003) Can Politics Practice Compassion? Project(RED) (2006). "Join Red Web Site." Retrieved July 1, 2010, from joinred.com. Rosaldo, R. (1993). Narrative Analysis. Culture & Truth: the remaking of social analysis Boston, Beacon Press: 127-146. Rosenthal A; Corner, J., Ed. (1988). New Challenges for Documentary. Manchester Manchester University Press. Shoumatoff, A. (2007). "The Lazarus Effect." Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 2010, from http:// www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/07/lazarus200707?currentPage=all. Snow, R. P., & Altheide, D. L. (1979). Media Logic. Beverly Hills, California, Sage Publications. Tester, K. (2001). Lifting the Lid on Compassion. Compassion, Morality, and the Media. Oxford, Open University Press: 74-103. Van Dijk, T. A. "18 Critical Discourse Analysis." from http://www.discourses.org/OldArticles/ Critical%20discourse%20analysis.pdf. Werry, C. (2007). "Reections on Language: Chomsky, linguistic discourse and the value of rhetorical self-consciousness." Language Sciences 29: 66-87. Wodak, R., Meyer, Michael, Ed. (2009). Methods of Critical DIscourse Analysis. London, Sage Publications.

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Appendix 1

Protection Plan Webisode 1 Transcript Film from Invisible Children Run Time: 6:58 Transcribed: Jacqueline Smith ! ! 17 March 2011 A close up of a very old radio. Makes transistor sounds as a hand ips knobs along the top and picks up a phone. Close up of a mans eyes, looking downward Camarade Belinda:! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Spears laying in the dirt. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! (Being spoken in native language in background, captions onscreen) I dont know if anyone can hear me. The Lords 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 imsy door. ! ! ! ! There is nowhere that is safe from the LRA, they are killing Camera cuts to a childs bloody, disgured face. ! ! ! ! mutilating

Cuts to a quick shot of a man holding a childs lip to a knife. Cuts to another shot of a child their nose cut off. ! ! ! ! and abducting children and forcing them to become ghters. Child walks on dirt road with a bloody machete in hand, twirling it by his side. ! ! ! ! The people here are eeing. 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.
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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 African continent. Zoom to Central African Republic, Sudan and D.R. Congo LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR ATROCITIES EVER MAKES IT TO WESTERN MEDIA INVISIBLE CHILDREN PRESENTS THE NEW CHAPTER: THE PROTECTION PLAN

Info graphic:! ! ! ! ! In text:! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

[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 rie. 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 shing and hunting and he was shot in leg by the Congolese government cause they thought he was the LRA.
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Man laying on ground with large open wound in his thigh, woman tending to him. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Hes been for like, 24 hours already and he has a huge gunshot wound. This place is so remote, theres 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. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Hes telling us that the LRA is like 10, 5 kilometers away from here. There are groups that operate, like, around this area because were 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 rie. 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. Its 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.

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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 Larens question in French. Girl:! ! Mami:!! Girl: ! ! Mami:!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Two years. ! ! (Asks how old she is in French) I am 16 years old (subtitled) (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:! ! ! ! ! Abbe Benoit:! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Im asking if she knows how to use a gun. She said yeah, she has been trained. 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:! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Laren Poole:! ! ! ! ! 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. Shes so young.

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

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Jolly Okot:! ! ! ! ! ! ! " " " ! ! ! " ! ! !

! ! ! ! " " ! ! !

! ! ! ! " " ! ! !

Shes really young and all she wants to do is go back to school. (Gets emotional) Ive seen more difcult things but looking at this girl... it has been really... I dont know how to describe it. Its hard. Its hard. Its really really hard. (Begins to cry, wipes her tears.) Why would you be like somebodys wife at the age of 14, you know? That is high level of trauma. There is nothing else, that is why I couldnt handle it. I couldnt. 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 its 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 its 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.

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

! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! !

Theyve 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. Weve compiled all of these projects in a document called The Protection Plan. The best way you can help the Protection Plan become a reality is sign up for 25. 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 ngers to their mouths. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Were 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. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Were 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. Its 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

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Appendix 2

Child Soldier Rehabilitation - Webisode 2 Transcript Film from Invisible Children Runtime: 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 eld 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 nd 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.

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" !

" !

" !

" !

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

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.

Prole of childs 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, ash backs (real footage) of being in the bush with the LRA ghting 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 rst 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 ashes 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 camouage apparel. Throws it into re and watches it burn. Scene refocus on Laren ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Its a symbol of entering normal society once again and no longer be a ghter 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 Transcript Film from Invisible Children Runtime: 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 Lords Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group carried out a horric 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 maam, 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, its not Sunday and he said, What about a market? and she said Oh yeah, theres a shermans 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 shermens market and the LRA surrounded them, tied people up, looted goods and then pushed people out into the forest along the path.

Men in camouage 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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Jacqueline Smith !

Global Media and Communications

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 wasnt 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 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 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.

Ida Sawyer:! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

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Jacqueline Smith !

Global Media and Communications

Clips of archaic looking radio, hand ipping 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 guring it out. Camera cut to Laren; Laren Poole:! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Our rst day in Congo were uh, were 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 were going to set up this HF radio, its going to go in this church. Itll get twice daily broadcast about the LRA; where they are and where theyre active. And they can also, if theres 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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Jacqueline Smith !

Global Media and Communications

Jolly Okot:! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Ida Sawyer:! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! In text:! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

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

HELP EXPAND THE CONGO EARLY WARNING NETWORK AND PREVENT THE NEXT LRA MASSACRE INVISIBLECHILDREN.COM

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