Drop the Debt Campaign receives global media coverage

The dramatic events of Muhammad Ali's visit to Britain on behalf of the Jubilee 2000 Campaign have prompted unprecedented news coverage of the Jubilee 2000 campaign. The picture of Bono of U2 presenting the Freddie Mercury prize for an outstanding campaign to Jubilee 2000's international ambassador, Muhammad Ali, has appeared around the world. The political impact was made clear when Gordon Brown, the UK Chancellor announced his latest initiative on the issue of poor country debt and specifically acknowledged the role of Jubilee 2000, Bono and Muhammad Ali in bringing the issue of debt to the attention of the public. Gordon Brown announced that he was calling on G7 finance ministers to double the amount of debt relief offered to the poorest countries: from $25 bn to $50bn.

British tabloids cover Jubilee 2000 campaign

The Jubilee 2000 campaign has been discussed and raised in the broadsheet newspapers in Britain and worldwide for over a year. The combined effect of Ali's visit and music industry backing introduced the issue of debt to a new and more popular audience. In particular all the British tabloids for the first time covered the Jubilee 2000 campaign. Britain's most popular – and controversial – newspaper, read by over 5 million readers, the Sun, featured a two-page article with the headline: “Muhammad Ali: I floated like a butterfly, stung like a bee, now join me to set the Third World free.” The Daily Mirror, The Star, Daily Express, and the Daily Mail all covered the emotional moments when Ali received the Freddie Mercury Prize on behalf of Jubilee 2000, to a standing ovation at the Brits music awards. There was extensive coverage of his visit to an African refugee centre, and his welcome by huge crowds in the mainly black community of Brixton. Even the entertainment magazines such as Hello! and OK! were covered with pictures of Ali and various pop celebrities wearing the Jubilee 2000 debt lapel chain. In what must be a first for the celebrity weekly, Hello! featured Muhammad Ali in front of a huge Jubilee 2000 Afrika Campaign banner reading “Uhuru, Resurgence” – alongside pictures of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland and the King and Queen of Spain!

Newspaper Editorials back Jubilee 2000

Several papers responded to the news coverage with significant editorials. The Guardian which launched its support for the campaign in 1997, printed an article by Bono backing the campaign. The Guardian then backed Jubilee 2000's demands with a strongly worded editorial on the 17^th February:

“Seldom has a movement produced such broadly based support. It includes most leading countries, the leading lobbies, the Pope and the pop singer Bono who reminded us this week that Africa owes western creditors $379 for every man, woman and child for the continent. It is difficult to comprehend the human tragedy of a Third World debt burden that has soared from $600 billion in 1980 to over $2.2 trillion today. How can anyone in Britain understand what it is like for half the people of Tanzania to earn a dollar a day-meaning they would need to work for two days to earn enough to travel one stop on the London underground let alone repay overseas debts whose provenance is unknown to them and the benefits of which may well have been siphoned off by corrupt intermediaries. And how can the countries repay when their main income-from commodity prices-has collapsed?”

In a recognition of the impact of the campaign on the financial world, The Financial Times in an editorial on the 17^th February entitled “Jubilee 2000” stated “When a plea for debt relief becomes the common cause of a coalition that embraces both the Pope and the pop world, creditors should take notice. The Jubilee 2000 campaign for the write-off of what it calls the “unpayable” debt of the world's poorest countries may not be achievable in the year of the millennium. But, just like Band Aid 15 years ago it should prick the conscience of the world's rich nations.”

Sunday Express joins Jubilee 2000 campaign

The popular newspaper, the Sunday Express, began the week on the 14^th February with a full page article entitled “Why we must drop the debt”. The reporter, Martin Wroe strongly backed the campaign. “Cancelling Third World debt is an idea whose time has come. By exploiting their celebrity in this way, pop stars may be doing the world a huge favour. Otherwise our millennium celebrations could ring as hollow as a dome.” The Sunday Express ended the week by announcing its formal backing for the Jubilee 2000 campaign. This makes it the second newspaper to back Jubilee 2000. The editorial said: “Jubilee 2000, the campaign to cancel out Third World debt in time for the millennium gathered pace this week with high profile appearances by Muhammad Ali and U2's Bono. We absolutely support the campaign's aims; it is morally wrong for the poorest people in the world to spend time paying off vast debts to the richest - particularly when the poorer people were not responsible for borrowing the money in the first place.” The paper then stated that it would be produce regular articles on the issue of debt and the Jubilee 2000 campaign. It printed the Jubilee 2000 information line number which prompted an avalanche of phone calls over the weekend.

The Sunday newspapers featured a large number of profiles on Bono of U2 and the Jubilee 2000 campaign. Not all newspapers were positive about the campaign. The Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times were heavily critical of the involvement of the music industry. They raised concerns about debt relief benefiting corrupt leaders and criticised the music industry's involvement in financial issues that do not directly concern them.

Drop the Debt message goes global

In an age of globalised media and entertainment industries, the events in Britain also had an impact worldwide. The Brits music show which featured four minutes on Jubilee 2000 including Bono's speech, the award of the Freddie Mercury prize to Jubilee 2000 and a 40 second pop advert on Jubilee 2000 is due to be shown in over 130 countries over the next month. The pop advert features the artists David Bowie, Catatonia, Cornershop and Jarvis Cocker from the Band Pulp – and has been acclaimed for its hard-hitting impact. With a background of dramatic music, the artists put across the message “Drop the Debt” in different ways including grafitting a wall and dropping a debt ball from a tree. The images are interrupted by these hard hitting messages:

• Live Aid raised $200 million. Africa pays that back in debt payments every week.
• For every £1 we give in aid we get £9 back
• Military Spending costs you £316 a year. Cancelling the debt would cost you £12 a year
• And would save 7 million lives every year
• Drop the Debt. Jubilee 2000 Coalition

Campaigns around the world have reported media coverage of the events. In Peru, newspapers featured front-page news stories of the music industry and Ali's backing of the campaign. Bono's article on debt has been reprinted in newspapers around the world, including the German Frankfurter Rundshau. The magazine Newsweek on March 1^st ran a full page article on “the fight to forgive the debts of poor countries” together with a picture of U2's Bono and Muhammad Ali at the Brit awards. It reports the comments of Tony Gaeta, an adviser at the World Bank who says “A year ago you couldn't find anyone in the US who was interested in debt relief. It now has real resonance.”