Cool news. Next Monday, 10 May, ONE co-founder Bono and our great supporter Bob Geldof will edit the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail as part of the run-up to Canada’s hosting the G8 and G20 global summits in June, where Africa will be on the agenda. It’s an amazing opportunity for ONE and a great chance to get the word out about the progress being made on the continent today, and about the strategic importance of Africa, not just to the 1 billion people living there, but to the rest of the world as well.
ONE is working closely with Bob and Bono on this project, as we have in the past when they edited other leading publications around the world, including Asahi Shimbun in Japan, The Independent in the UK, Bild in Germany, and La Stampa in Italy.
The special edition will feature content and commentary from African political leaders, business owners and grassroots activists; it will also include contributions from other well-known international political leaders and advocates.
“I’m a huge fan of great journalism – I can’t wait to show up for work at The Globe. Our aim in this special edition is to crack down on a few stereotypes and showcase the opportunities surrounding the African continent, not just the problems,” said Bono in The Globe and Mail press release issued last night announcing the project.
“The world will be coming to and looking at Canada this June. The older and the emerging economies will be once again be struggling to learn the new 21st century dance of cooperation and possibly even compromise, and this time under Canada’s leadership. The Globe and Mail, one of the world’s great papers of record, has, in a mad rush of blood to the head, agreed to let two Irish pop-singers edit their august journal for one special day, one special edition. It will be dedicated to that huge, emerging resource continent of Africa and the global necessity of coming to terms with its opportunities and obstacles. I’ve gone from being an old editor of the Vancouver Georgia Straight to the new editor of The Globe and Mail and it’s only taken 36 years! Now that’s a career trajectory,” said Geldof in the same release.
The Globe and Mail is inviting readers to send in their video questions for Bono and Geldof. Video questions should be sent via their website by 6 May. Select questions will then be chosen, and answered by the guest-editors online during the month of May.
So send your questions in!!
We’ll have more on this exciting development when the special edition is published on Monday.