This documentary was about children in Sudan, children who
escaped Sudan to Uganda. These children were forced to escape Sudan because of
the war going on. Often, these children were captured/abducted and used as
child soldiers or even killed. Seeing these children and adults who help talk
about the situation they are in and what it is like to live there during these
times was just extremely heartbreaking. Often, we over here, protected and
safe, cannot imagine how it is over there, what they must go through every
single day and how they live their lives. It has been going on for so long,
that children have sadly adapted to it and accepted it as a way of life. No one
should have to grow up or live this way. Every element was so well done and
captured in this documentary, this documentary truly held my interest the
entire time and really made me think about the situation those children are in.
I will truly never forget about this documentary, because although I had an
idea of what was going on over there in Africa, I never knew it was this bad and
hearing it from the children themselves just gave it complete credibility. Seeing
actual footage, drawings and interviews was just terrifying and a real wake up
call to reach out and help whenever you can. These things must be changed, this
world should be a much better place and children should not have to experience
such horrid things, ever. This film relates to our semester topic because these
three young men are citizen journalists. They traveled to Africa and risked
their own lives for everyone to be able to see the horrible situation over
there. These three young men did not do it for themselves, did not do it to
become famous, but did it to make people aware of the situation and to try to
change what is going on in Africa and provide better lives for those affected. I
think it is posted in this manner because it is meant to help change the
situations that were being filmed and not to give anyone credit or make them
look good. The international nature of the Internet complicates this situation
due to all of the copyright laws and what is supposed to be or expected to be
done when posting a film online. I don’t see anything wrong with posting films
in this manner, but I do know, form our discussions in class, that it is a big
topic for others. Many believe that copyright laws should be followed exactly
as they are stated and that nothing should be posted on the Internet in this
particular manner. In this documentary the citizen journalists are extremely
involved in their situation and are advocating for a major change. For two of
the young men, it was their first time in Africa and experiencing this, but for
one of them it was his second time being Africa and experiencing this
situation, but they all want to continue traveling there and making a change for
as long as they are able to do so. Their level of involvement does impact their
skills of filmmaking, because they lean towards one side, showing the
situations of the children. I however do not believe that this is a negative
thing because that is the main change that they are advocating for, they want
these children to have better lives and not have to experience the things they
are currently experiencing. By putting their main focus on the children, they
are able to show more pathos, ethos and logos throughout their documentary. Their
bias in the film is definitely effective for the reasons stated above. I
believe that everyone, as citizen journalist, is able to manage their bias,
when there are two sides to the story and depending on what message you are
trying to get across to the viewers. In this case, the citizen journalists were
trying to tell the story of the children, this was the children’s time to speak
and reach out to people. There are times when it could be harmful and that is
when there are two equal sides to a story and only one is told due to the bias.
Citizen journalist and professional journalist partner together in this film by
showing all perspectives of the issue in Africa and putting all of the
information together in the end. This
collaboration is important, because it helps expand and make the documentary
better and more appealing to more viewers. I do believe that as citizen
journalists we have the opportunity to partner with professional journalists to
make sure that the public can view our information and to make sure that it is
correct or to show their point of view on the issue, since they are
professionals. Collaborating with professional journalists when it comes to
such issues can also create much more credibility for the audience/viewers.
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