The Guardian’s Sunday edition, The Observer, have run the puff-piece nobody else wanted, a lengthy tête-à-tête with Jason Russell of Invisible Children infamy. “Jason Russell: Kony 2012 and the fight for truth” (illustrated by the photograph above) is a dreadful, half-assed piece of reporting that seeks to help resuscitate Russell’s broken credibility. About these ads
There are times we shake our heads or roll our eyes. When we could not invent some of the things that we spot in the media. For some reason especially New York Times journalists can’t help themselves (though there are some exceptions like Lydia Polgreen reporting from Johannesburg). For example, former Times editor Bill Keller […]
In 2004, the British press reported that the album cover Damien Hirst had designed for Band Aid 20’s re-recording of the 1984 single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” had been rejected by the organizers, for fear it would frighten small children. “The record, that’s the important part,” explained Midge Ure. “The cover doesn’t really matter. […]
A new post on one of The Atlantic’s blogs breathily covers Bono appearing at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. to talk about Africa and foreign aid. It’s not clear why a publication like The Atlantic (or its online equivalent) is covering Bono giving a talk about Africa but the fact they covered it at all is part of […]
In the last few days every journalist (or outraged blogger) covering #Kony2012 has been so busy reporting on what the bloggers have been saying and putting together salad after salad of African (and therefore authentic, true etc) opinion, that they have utterly failed to actually do any journalism. That’s right: reporting. Finding out what this […]
Hoping to dress people who want to reference themselves as elites who’ve had the leisure to “do good” after having spent as much on their wardrobe as they did on their fave charity? Michael Kors did, apparently. I like Kors’ self-parodic performances on the TV show, Project Runway, and also like that he’s more into producing […]
The media buzz (including blogging, tumbling and retweeting, as well as Facebooking) around Newsweek magazine’s ridiculous cover story of film actor George Clooney (title: “On the ground with a new kind of statesman”) highlight the titilating; i.e. Clooney’s sexual conquests of “way too many chicks”). Too bad, since the piece is really about how Clooney has the […]
The Guardian’s “Poverty Matters Blog” on Friday claimed “… there is no simple answer to whether we should or should not use stars to promote good causes,” especially when it comes to development issues. Though the phenomenon has spawned a slew of derogatory words to describe the celebrity/cause mashup (“celanthropists”, “mallrtuism”, “charitainment” and “badvocacy”, and […]
And what has Mr. Bono been doing lately? Here he is, frolicking with a gala-flawless red satin ribbon. (Caption:”U2 front man, Bono, middle, poses with fellow band member, The Edge, left, Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard, right, and New South Wales state Premier Kristina Keneally at an event to launch World Aids Day in Sydney.”)
Every Journey Began in Africa. Oh, really? Checking in from that mythical magical place known as “Africa” (or, as Women’s Wear Daily reports, an “arid South African vista”) are Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, founders of the fashion brand, Edun, for which the above campaign was shot. The campaign is part of a push […]
