Bono's New Gig: Journalist

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When it comes to aiding Africa, Bono has found what he's looking for.

In his latest gambit to press the world's richest industrial nations to heed the scourge of poverty and AIDS plaguing African, the U2 frontman became a journalist for a day by serving as a guest editor of the U.K. newspaper The Independent.

In Bono's special one-off edition to galvanize public support, the The Independent's front page headline on Tuesday stated in big, stark letters "No News Today," while underneath was written, "Just 6,500 Africans died today as a result of a preventable, treatable disease."

Stop the presses indeed.

The billboard-style front page was designed by artist Damien Hirst and was printed on a red background to spotlight Bono's Red Campaign, which launched in January and enlists major corporations to sell their products with a Red label, with 1 percent of the profits going to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

In the lead editorial, Bono took advantage of the editor's chair to address African issues that, in his view, have been routinely ignored by the press.

"Picture this: a village where the disappearance of a whole generation [from AIDS] has left children to bring up children," he wrote. "The Lord of the Flies syndrome. I'm a witness to this. What can I do?"

One thing the 46-year-old rocker decided to do was publish African-centric stories addressing the AIDS crisis; EU subsidies that harm African farmers; the large wave of African immigrants landing on European shores; an update regarding the achievements of the Live 8 concerts and the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, last summer; how climate change will affect the continent's future; a profile of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's finance minister who's combating corruption in that country; an editorial from Live 8 founder Bob Geldof; an interview Bono conducted with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Labour Party's Gordon Brown; and a testimonial from Nelson Mandela about the importance of the Red Brand.

The How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb singer demonstrated his usual charm and gift of gab, chatting it up in another article with comedian Eddie Izzard.

U2 guitarist The Edge was also given the opportunity to update readers on how New Orleans musicians are rebuilding their culture and livelihoods in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Another piece also featured Stella McCartney interviewing fashion maven Georgio Armani on why red is his favorite color.

And in perhaps the most off-beat selection, Bono tapped U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to choose the 10 best musical works. Among the several classical compositions Rice selected, she included anything by U2 and Elton John's "Rocket Man."

While making it clear that he's "as sick of messianic rock stars as the next man, woman and child," Time's Co-person of the Year and all-around good guy justified his sense of urgency.

"Product RED cannot replace activism," he added. "For anyone who thinks this means I'm going to retire to the boardroom and stop banging my fist on the door of No. 10, I'm sorry to disappoint you. We have to keep our marching boots on and hold our leaders to account for the promises they have made to Africa--and get them to promise more."

To that end, Bono also kicked off a new African trip on Tuesday in the tiny nation of Lesotho accompanied by a delegation of activists and business executives. Billed as "Measuring Success and Promises Kept," the 10-day tour aims to show progress being made in AIDS treatments in that country, of which a third of the adult population of two million is HIV positive, and why the first world should aid the Lesotho's ailing textile industry, which is being undercut by low-cost competitors in Asia.

Bono is expected to unveil a new program, the Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight AIDS project, which is dedicated to giving Lesotho's garment workers access to AIDS drugs. Additionally, the Irish crooner has also persuaded the GAP to pledge to manufacture some of its Red-branded products in Africa.

The trek, which comes on the four year anniversary of Bono's Africa tour with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in 2002, will also make stops in Rwanda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Mali and Ghana. He's undertaking it to keep up the pressure on G8 nations to make good on their pledge to increase AID to the third world, cancel crushing debts, and improve world health overall.