Gable's take on Bob Geldof for the Globe and Mail
If you haven’t yet seen today’s issue of the Globe and Mail, you should check it out. Bono and Bob Geldof guest edited the edition, with a focus on the potential of Africa. This is an attempt to build momentum for public discussion of poverty and investment in Africa ahead of the G8 summit being held in Ontario at the end of June.
One might well wonder why two pale Irish men are editing an African edition of Canada’s National Newspaper. Reader Sarah Kibaalya of Toronto put the question to the duo in an online video Q&A. As both musicians pointed out in their response – and as editor-in-chief John Stackhouse wrote in his editorial – the intent is not to “speak for” Africa but rather to use the profile of celebrity to draw attention to the issues. As Bono put it, “Celebrity is currency around these times and we want to spend ours wisely.”
Fair enough. I’m not sure that a special edition of the Globe guest-edited by Eleni Gabre-Madhin and Dambisa Moyo would attract the same attention, despite the latter economist’s minor rock-start status in the past year or so.
And, having looked through the edition and the online content, I am very pleased that – at least to some extent – a more forward-looking view of Africa’s status and potential is receiving some significant airplay in this country. Certainly, that view of the continent – and the quest to unleash Africa’s entrepreneurial potential – is what keeps me passionate about IDE. It’s encouraging to see strong African voices like Chimamanda Adichie featured as well.
However, I still look forward to the day when Africans figure more prominently on our screens as active agents and voices, without the need for endorsement by Euro celebrities. (As Dambisa Moyo put it in a public lecture that I attended in Toronto last June, “A lot of people have called me the ‘Anti-Bono.’ I’m not anti-Bono. I actually like his music. I just don’t want him designing economic policy for Africa.”)
Who knows? Perhaps next Monday, in the interest of balance, Angelique Kidjo and Salif Keita could guest edit a special edition on the future and potential of North America.
Tags: Africa, Bob Geldof, Bono, chimamanda adichie, communication, stories, The Globe and Mail
June 6, 2010 at 8:43 pm |
Future and potential of North America? That’s like so 1960′s….I think that the real action is increasingly overseas.