Media Add to Celebrity Push for U.N. Aid Mandate
The media
continue to use the 60th anniversary of the United Nations as a
platform to criticize U.S. foreign aid as second lowest of any
wealthy country. This is part of an ongoing, celebrity-filled push
to get the United States to give billions of dollars in aid
totally ignoring the massive contributions already made by American
charities.
The General Assembly has been debating what
are called U.N. Millennium Development Goals, which attempt to
mandate that each industrialized nation give 0.7 percent of its
Gross National Product to foreign aid. The media have used the event
to misrepresent U.S. foreign aid and to highlight celebrities like
actress Angelia Jolie, an outspoken supporter of increased
taxpayer-funded aid.
ABCs Good Morning America interviewed
Jolie September 13, along with with Dr. Jeffrey Sachs of the U.N.
Millennium Project. Sachs is author of The End of Poverty, in
which he indicted the United States for supposedly lagging behind
other countries in aid for the poor. The two have produced a
documentary about a trip to Kenya that is being shown on MTV on
September 14.
The duo received a friendly welcome from
Robin Roberts, who downplayed the cost of their goals and continued
the claim that activists are trying to raise awareness about
poverty. A previous
Business & Media Institute analysis showed that, in fact, activists are
trying to raise billions of dollars and hiding the fact being their
campaign to raise awareness.
According to Roberts, Sachs and Jolie feel
the solutions must be simple and practical. Of course, ending world
poverty is anything but simple and practical and far from
inexpensive.
Jolie provided a pro-spending position.
Roberts asked her if aid to hurricane victims would make it more
difficult to get people to care about Africa. Jolie responded with
a typical complaint that the United States is not doing enough.
Hopefully, it will make people question whats going on with, with
our government. What were taking care of, what were not taking
care of in our own country and around the world.
Roberts could have mentioned that the
United States gives billions in foreign aid through government and
charities. The number that the United Nations uses to compare
countries is heavily skewed toward nations where the governments
budget is a much larger percentage of Gross National Product. It
specifically ignores the way most Americans choose to give through
charitable contributions. A June 2005 report from the Hudson
Institute revealed that private U.S. donors gave at least $62
billion to developing countries in 2003. That was three-and-a-half
times the total of Official Development Assistance the U.S.
government handed out that year.
Jolies sentiment was echoed at CBS. On
September 14, CBSs Bill Plante put his spin on the event during a
story on The Early Show. According to Plante, White House
officials say the president will talk about combating poverty and
disease in the world's poorest nations. That's an area in which the
U.S. is criticized by many for offering very low contributions,
second lowest of any wealthy country.
This is the same approach repeated in the
September 14 New York Times. Celia W. Dugger wrote that The United
States, the worlds largest donor in terms of value, is next to last
among richer nations in giving as a share of national income.
Duggers piece also ignored American charitable contributions.
