Bono, Malema and the headlines that stirred all the rage

14 Feb 2011

U2 frontman Bono was the target of wide-scale derision this weekend after a story about him apparently supporting Julius Malema and that infamous "shoot the boer" liberation song flamed across South Africa - and then circled the globe. But as the world's most famous Irish band took to the stage at FNB Stadium, music journalists stepped forward to say Bono had been horribly misquoted by the media.

"Bono guides Juju" and "Julius Malema may have found an unlikely ally in U2 frontman Bono who, on Friday, 11 February 2011, waded into the debate over the singing of the controversial Shoot The Boer song." These were the Sunday Times and TimesLIVE headlines and opening lines, augmented at 10:31 on Sunday morning by another TimesLIVE headline, "Bono backs Malema's 'shoot the boer' song" that caused many South Africans to erupt in anger at U2's Bono.

...Local music journalists are critical about Sunday Times' reporting on the issue and go as far as to say the headlines were a deliberate distortion of the truth.

Read the full article, and as well as the comments, on www.thedailymaverick.co.za.

About Mandy de Waal: @mandyldewaal

Editor, writer and researcher. *Editor of #TheFutureByDesign & The Africa Annual *Published in Africa's Greatest Entrepreneurs *Published in Rolling Stone Magazine, The Guardian (UK), Daily Maverick, Finweek, Mail & Guardian, City Press, Rapport, Moneyweb, Noseweek; Brainstorm Magazine; ITWeb, and MarkLives. *Before becoming a full time writer, de Waal founded brand agency Idea Engineers, and led the Cape Town office of Text 100.

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