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MySpace Organizes Sudan Fundraiser
tanman writes to tell us CNN is reporting that MySpace is sponsoring a series of 20 concerts as an effort to raise awareness about the humanitarian relief efforts in Sudan. From the article: "The concerts will take place October 21. Artists include TV on the Radio in Philadelphia, Alice in Chains in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Ziggy Marley in Medford, Oregon, Citizen Cope in Seattle, Gov't Mule in Spokane, Washington, and Insane Clown Posse in St. Petersburg, Florida."
Couldn't Fox (MySpace's owner) raise a lot more awareness with their news network than they could with concerts?
Unfortunately, Sudan exists in that giant blind spot the developed world seems to have south of Europe and west of the Middle East. Sure, we have these benefits which do some good, but meanwhile the governments of the most powerful and wealthy nations in the world are willing to do nothing more than prop up dictatorial regimes by lending them money their countrymen will never be able to repay, while trying to decide what is the least amount of aid they can get away with while still looking like they care.
The way the west has dealt with Africa since pretty much the beginning of time is shameful, and it doesn't look like it's going to improve any time soon.
So now I can hear from every teenager out there about how important things are in Sudan. And how much it means to them personally. "Hey, put this in your profile if you care about the Sudan cause! But don't forget to comment up. Because it means so much to me." Puke.
It's always confirmation bias!
Sure, but that assumes that the point is to actually do something in Sudan, and not improve the tarnished image of the online service that they forked out a bunch of dough for, and are currently burdened with. It's a little bit of a Hail Mary, but hey, when you've got a web site that most people only know of because they've seen it on the news in the same sentence with "pedophile," you can't really go wrong.
Why would News Corp give a damn about people in Sudan? Here's a hint: they don't.
The only reason they're raising money for people in Sudan is that it's the least-offensive cause some focus group could come up with. Right now, MySpace needs the most heart-warming, family-friendly but not totally-unhip image resuscitation that money can buy.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Well yeah -- I mean, if they really wanted to send money to Sudan, you'd think that one of the brain surgeons there at News Corp would realize that it's a little ridiculous for a giant multinational corporation with $25 billion in revenue to sponsor a fucking fund raiser, in order to get regular folks to send in a couple of bucks here and there, as if they were the Pigs Knuckle, Arkansas Rotary Club ... if the goal of the whole process was "let's send money to Sudan," Rupert Murdoch could probably just cut a check out of his petty cash fund and be done with it.
As they are not doing that and are conducting a fund raiser, however ironic, I think it's safe to assume that the ultimate goal of the process is not, in fact, sending money to Sudan.
As to what the real motive might be, I'll leave that up to you to consider.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."