Saturday, October 25, 2008

Vertigo? Or Angel of Harlem?

DO YOU CARE about what Bono thinks?

Well, the New York Times announced that the U2 lead singer and activist will write opinion pieces for the paper starting in 2009.

Thoughts?

16 comments:

Joe said...

Hate me, but I totally care what Bono thinks. Also: Eddie Vedder, Dean Spunt, Patrick Stickles, Britt Daniel, Keith Buckley, Joe Strummer, Morrissey, Exene Cerevenka, Henry Rollins... That's sorta why I listen to their music. I wish they all could write opinion pieces for NYT in 2009

Anonymous said...

Well, In my opinion Bono is an inspirational international figure through his charity work and outreach projects. I don't particularly care what he things, but it is anyone's right to write for an opinion paper so i'm sure many others will care.

-Najee C

Anonymous said...

I am personally not a huge fan of Bono...at all. I think he sticks his nose in places it shouldn't be and let's be honest...the guy isn't even American. But it also doesn't really matter to me if he writes op pieces for the NYTimes. I don't plan on reading it..

Anonymous said...

Why should it matter if he is American? I think the NY Times and most papers for that matter could use some outside perspective. Like Najee said, he is an inspirational international figure. If Arnold can govern the state of California, Bono should write for the NY Times.

Anonymous said...

I think Bono is an excellent choice for an opinion writer. Throughout his career, Bono has been dedicated to making an impact on the world and bringing attention to issues that don't often get attention, and afterall shouldn't that be one of the primary goals of a journalist? In response to do you care what Bono thinks- Do you care what anyone else thinks? That is what opinion writers do,share what they think, so why not have the perspective of someone with so much life experience.

Anonymous said...

I think Bono has been a great figure in the world with all of the charity work he has done. I am really interested to see what he thinks about certain issues because of his life experiences.

Jen said...

While I'm not a huge fan of people who nickname themselves "Beautiful Voice" and wear sunglasses ALL the time, I don't think it's that big of a deal that they're giving Bono a column. It kind of stinks that he has more influence than, say, you or me, but he is a prominent person who often takes part in governmental issues and social activism. And besides, he'll be writing opinion pieces, and anyone can do that. Unfortunately however, we're not all guaranteed to get published. According to the Radar Magazine article, the Editorial Page Editor "did allude to re-recruiting the pen of Queen guitarist Brian May, who just earned his doctorate in astrophysics, and expressed admiration for previous opinion writers Bruce Springsteen and Larry David," so, it may not just be Mr.Sunglasses.

Geo said...

You should read the Larry David op/ed from a few years ago:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/opinion/01david.html

It's priceless.

- George (the teacher who loved U2 until the Zooropa tour when Bono started wearing the big, bug glasses and his head swelled to the size of Africa)

Anonymous said...

hahah swelled to the size of africa hahaah *sigh* My question is why not? Other celebrities and public icons are speaking out. I don't c a problem with Bono doing so either. Besides, U2 rocks... period

Anonymous said...

I think Bono better definitely know what he's doing if he starts writing. People value him for his acts, not necessarily for his thoughts. If Bono starts writing and the people who support him for his acts don't like what he writes, or realize that he's just an idiot with a lot of money(I'm not assuming he is, just putting forth the possibility), then he loses that whole demographic. I also doubt that the people who dislike him because of his overzealous humanitarianism will find a reason to change there minds in what he writes. In this sense, this could be a big mistake for Bono, he could lose his current fans and not get any new ones.

Anonymous said...

This is an alright idea. Th only thing I have against it is that I have a feeling I already know Bono's opinions on world issues, so why would I read about in the NY Times?
We'll see how it plays out and if it is successful, but I won't be reading it. Bono is a great man who has done some great things, however, all of them I already know about.

Jen said...

Another thought:
Though it's a little different, Interview Magzine (originally started by Andy Warhol) allows celebrities to interview other people in the limelight. Heck, for "Joe" up there Eddie Vedder actually interviewed Josh Brolin. Yeah, if they're friends or something it's not going to be the most balanced interview in the world, but people will still read it. You just have to look at it skeptically, like everything else.

Just saying...

Anonymous said...

Bono? Where's his degree? Who cares what he thinks.

Anonymous said...

While Im not a fan of Bono, I think he could provide some interesting insight. Hes a prominent figure and his name alone will draw readers. He is known for being a humanitarian so I think he could shed light on problems that need attention.
Ofcourse he can choose not to seize that opportunity or itll just not go off well and he'll come off as pretentious.
Itll be interesting to see how it turns out.

Gabrielle Clark said...

Don`t really care, I guess..

Megan McCue Journalism said...

I always get annoyed when celebrities try and speak out about public issues because usually they aren't even educated about the subject and try to abuse the attention the public will give to them. There are probably a lot of better people the NY Times could give opinion columns to with more valuable knowledge but I guess why not Bono, it could be worse and people will read it.