SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
And Now, Our Expert on Africa... US Billionaire Michael Bloomberg
Aug 08, 2014
This week the White House has gathered dozens of heads of state from across Africa for a summit in Washington, DC. It has the potential to raise some interesting issues about economic development, major corporations and debates over human rights and the US-led war on terrorism.
But the Sunday chat shows had a strange way of doing this. CBS's Face the Nation (8/3/14) tapped CEO and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as its Africa expert, sitting alongside White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Bloomberg- who is sponsoring some of the summit events-stressed the need to talk about business: "The goal is to explain to Americans the opportunity and American businesses the opportunity in Africa, to explain to the African continent why they should look to America for commerce, for education, for medical care."
Bloomberg played down politics as being unimportant to businesses: "They never get involved in ideology. They just look for markets." The hundreds who turned out to protest the presence of US-allied dictators and human rights abusers (New York Times, 8/5/14) could have provided a different take on the issue of whether politics matter.
But talking about such issues wasn't the point. Indeed, there wasn't much talk of Africa at all; the CBS segment actually spent more time talking about his support for Israel's attack on Gaza.
Over on ABC"s This Week (8/3/14), host George Stephanopoulos invited two Africans to discuss the summit, Nigerian singer D'Banj and Dr. Sipho Moyo of the One Campaign. This surely adds more diversity to the discussions. Unfortunately, Stephanopoulos-perhaps in a bid to give US viewers a reference point-introduced D'Banj as "the man they call Africa's Bono."
It's quite unlikely the chat shows will devote much more time to Africa this year, so it's disappointing that viewers heard from an American billionaire and a performer they're told is a lot like Bono.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)
Peter Hart
Peter Hart is the Domestic Communications Director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
This week the White House has gathered dozens of heads of state from across Africa for a summit in Washington, DC. It has the potential to raise some interesting issues about economic development, major corporations and debates over human rights and the US-led war on terrorism.
But the Sunday chat shows had a strange way of doing this. CBS's Face the Nation (8/3/14) tapped CEO and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as its Africa expert, sitting alongside White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Bloomberg- who is sponsoring some of the summit events-stressed the need to talk about business: "The goal is to explain to Americans the opportunity and American businesses the opportunity in Africa, to explain to the African continent why they should look to America for commerce, for education, for medical care."
Bloomberg played down politics as being unimportant to businesses: "They never get involved in ideology. They just look for markets." The hundreds who turned out to protest the presence of US-allied dictators and human rights abusers (New York Times, 8/5/14) could have provided a different take on the issue of whether politics matter.
But talking about such issues wasn't the point. Indeed, there wasn't much talk of Africa at all; the CBS segment actually spent more time talking about his support for Israel's attack on Gaza.
Over on ABC"s This Week (8/3/14), host George Stephanopoulos invited two Africans to discuss the summit, Nigerian singer D'Banj and Dr. Sipho Moyo of the One Campaign. This surely adds more diversity to the discussions. Unfortunately, Stephanopoulos-perhaps in a bid to give US viewers a reference point-introduced D'Banj as "the man they call Africa's Bono."
It's quite unlikely the chat shows will devote much more time to Africa this year, so it's disappointing that viewers heard from an American billionaire and a performer they're told is a lot like Bono.
Peter Hart
Peter Hart is the Domestic Communications Director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
This week the White House has gathered dozens of heads of state from across Africa for a summit in Washington, DC. It has the potential to raise some interesting issues about economic development, major corporations and debates over human rights and the US-led war on terrorism.
But the Sunday chat shows had a strange way of doing this. CBS's Face the Nation (8/3/14) tapped CEO and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as its Africa expert, sitting alongside White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Bloomberg- who is sponsoring some of the summit events-stressed the need to talk about business: "The goal is to explain to Americans the opportunity and American businesses the opportunity in Africa, to explain to the African continent why they should look to America for commerce, for education, for medical care."
Bloomberg played down politics as being unimportant to businesses: "They never get involved in ideology. They just look for markets." The hundreds who turned out to protest the presence of US-allied dictators and human rights abusers (New York Times, 8/5/14) could have provided a different take on the issue of whether politics matter.
But talking about such issues wasn't the point. Indeed, there wasn't much talk of Africa at all; the CBS segment actually spent more time talking about his support for Israel's attack on Gaza.
Over on ABC"s This Week (8/3/14), host George Stephanopoulos invited two Africans to discuss the summit, Nigerian singer D'Banj and Dr. Sipho Moyo of the One Campaign. This surely adds more diversity to the discussions. Unfortunately, Stephanopoulos-perhaps in a bid to give US viewers a reference point-introduced D'Banj as "the man they call Africa's Bono."
It's quite unlikely the chat shows will devote much more time to Africa this year, so it's disappointing that viewers heard from an American billionaire and a performer they're told is a lot like Bono.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.