Bono to Write New York Times Op-Ed Column

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Press release on Businesswire.com:

Bono to Write New York Times Op-Ed Column
First in a Series of Occasional Op-Eds Will Appear on Sunday

NEW YORK--The New York Times announced today that Bono, the U2 lead singer and anti-poverty activist, has been invited to write a column for The New York Times. Beginning this Sunday, his columns will appear occasionally on The New York Times Op-Ed page and online at nytimes.com/opinion and will cover a broad range of subjects. He will also do a podcast of his first column.

“Bono is a great addition to our Op-Ed line-up,” said Andrew Rosenthal, editorial page editor of The New York Times. “He is an extraordinary man who thinks deeply about his art and the major issues confronting the world. His writing will reflect that.”

“What an honor,” said Bono. “I've never been great with the full stops or commas. Let’s see how far we can take this.”

Bono has been a leader in the fight against AIDS and poverty in Africa since his initial involvement in the debt cancellation campaign of 1998, when he began lobbying governments across the G8 to free poor countries from odious debts so they could spend more on health and education. Since then, he has continued working on debt relief and trade reform while becoming a vocal advocate for global health. He has worked publicly and behind the scenes in the U.S. and Europe to help generate a global response to the AIDS emergency in Africa and for additional support to combat deaths from malaria and other preventable, treatable diseases.

Bono is the co-founder of ONE, a nonpartisan advocacy and campaigning organization backed by more than two million people dedicated to the fight against global poverty and disease. In 2005, Bono and ONE were key players in helping persuade the G8 nations to commit an additional $25 billion in effective assistance to Africa by 2010. Through his activism, he has travelled extensively to G8 and African capitals and worked directly with world leaders, as well as with influential religious and business leaders involved in anti-poverty campaigning.

Bono also co-founded (RED), with Bobby Shriver, to gain more involvement from the corporate sector in the fight against AIDS in Africa. In just over two years, (RED) has generated more than $120 million from some of the biggest brands in the world for The Global Fund to finance AIDS programs in Africa.

The U2 front man was born Paul David Hewson in Ballymun, Dublin. He met the Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton at school, and in 1978 the Irish rock band was formed. U2 has sold more than 140 million albums and won numerous awards, including 22 Grammys.

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2007 revenues of $3.2 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 16 other daily newspapers, WQXR-FM and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

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