Editing Live Aid (section)

=== Fund use in Ethiopia ===
[[File:Pink floyd live 8 london.jpg|thumb|[[Roger Waters]] (right) rejoined his former bandmates [[Pink Floyd]] at [[Live 8]] in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] in London, on 2 July 2005|alt=A concert stage lit by purple lighting. Four men are performing on the stage as a crowd stands in front of it. Behind the men are video screens displaying images of vinyl records.]]
In 1986, ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' published a so-called exposé on Live Aid's actions in Ethiopia. It claimed that Geldof deliberately ignored warnings from [[Médecins Sans Frontières]], who had complained directly to Geldof even before Live Aid, about the role of the Ethiopian government under [[Derg]] leader [[Mengistu Haile Mariam]] in causing the famine and that by working with Mengistu directly, much of the relief funds intended for victims were in fact siphoned off to purchase arms from the [[Soviet Union]], thereby exacerbating the situation.<ref name="Spin"/> Geldof responded by deriding both the article and Médecins Sans Frontières, who had been expelled from the country, and reportedly saying, "I'll shake hands with the Devil on my left and on my right to get to the people we are meant to help."<ref name="Spin">{{cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/featured/live-aid-the-terrible-truth-ethiopia-bob-geldof-feature/|title=Live Aid: The Terrible Truth|work=Spin|date=13 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714222035/https://www.spin.com/featured/live-aid-the-terrible-truth-ethiopia-bob-geldof-feature/|archive-date=14 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/2015/07/live-aid-bob-geldof-response-spin-1986-feature/|title=Live Aid: Bob Geldof's Original Response to SPIN's 1986 Exposé|work=Spin|date=15 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716153655/http://www.spin.com/2015/07/live-aid-bob-geldof-response-spin-1986-feature/|archive-date=16 July 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2010 the [[BBC World Service]] claimed that some aid funds were siphoned off to buy arms for the [[Tigrayan People's Liberation Front]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 October 2014|title=BBC - The Editors: Bob, Band Aid and how the rebels bought their arms|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/theeditors/2010/03/ethiopia.html|access-date=13 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141001212633/https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/theeditors/2010/03/ethiopia.html|archive-date=1 October 2014}}</ref> This coalition [[Ethiopian Civil War|battled]] at the time against [[Derg]]. The BBC did not claim that Band Aid funds were involved but played the Band Aid single to introduce the report. Other BBC programmes then repeated the World Service allegation and added an explicit reference to Band Aid. The Band Aid Trust complained to the BBC Editorial Complaints Unit regarding the specific allegations in the BBC World Service documentary, and the later repetitions, and their complaint was upheld.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2010/03/ethiopia.html#bottom|title=Use of funds generated by Live Aid Band Aid Complaint|work=BBC News|access-date=17 November 2015}}</ref> In 2010 the BBC issued an apology before every tv and radio news bulletin to the Trust and acknowledged there was no evidence money had been diverted,<ref name="BBC 2010"/> while the [[British Ambassador to Ethiopia]] at the time, [[Brian Barder]], issued a detailed rebuttal of the BBC claims <ref>{{cite web | url=https://barder.com/ethiopia-famine-relief-aid-misinterpreted-allegations-out-of-control/ | title=Ethiopia famine relief aid: Misinterpreted allegations out of control | date=April 2010 }}</ref> making clear that "the diversion of aid related only to the tiny proportion that was supplied by some NGOs to rebel-held areas" and was not an allegation about the bulk of emergency aid to Ethiopia during the famine.<ref name="Barder"/>

Although a professed admirer of Geldof's generosity and concern, American television commentator [[Bill O'Reilly (commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]] was critical of Live Aid's oversight of the use of the funds raised. O'Reilly believed that charity organisations operating in aid-receiving countries should control donations rather than "chaotic nations".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bellaire/news/article/Bill-O-Reilly-9816413.php |title=Sharing the Wealth |first=Bill|last=O'Reilly |publisher=Houston Chronicle |date=14 June 2005 |access-date=7 August 2020}}</ref> Arguing that Live Aid accomplished good ends while inadvertently causing harm at the same time, [[David Rieff]] gave a presentation of similar concerns in ''[[The Guardian]]'' at the time of [[Live 8]].<ref>{{cite news |first=David|last=Rieff |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/24/g8.debtrelief/ |title=Did Live Aid do more harm than good? |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=24 June 2005 |access-date=6 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829061237/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/24/g8.debtrelief/|archive-date=29 August 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Tim Russert]], in an interview on ''[[Meet the Press]]'' shortly after O'Reilly's comments, addressed these concerns to [[Bono]]. Bono responded that corruption, not disease or famine, was the greatest threat to Africa, agreeing with the belief that foreign relief organisations should decide how the money is spent. On the other hand, Bono said that it was better to spill some funds into nefarious quarters for the sake of those who needed it than to stifle aid because of possible theft.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8332675 |title=Transcript for June 26 – Meet the Press |publisher=NBC News |date=26 June 2005 |access-date=6 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308011115/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8332675|archive-date=8 March 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>