What will be the long-term impact of Live 8?
The twenty year follow up to Live AID, boasted one million fans in 10 venues across the globe, “a galaxy of rockstars” and a 2 billion-strong television audience. But will it be able to achieve its goals – to end poverty in Africa, cancel foreign debt and make international trade fairer. Unlike its predecessor, Live 8 was not intended to attract donations from a global television audience. It aimed to focus global attention on African poverty ahead of the summit of the Group of Eight industrialised nations, or G8, in Scotland this week. But what real impacts can these types of massive worldwide events have? Alma Mistry asked Associate Professor Michael Johnson, the coordinator of Development Studies at the University of New South Wales. She also spoke to Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia.