...I can't stand the man, but that was pretty moving. Thanks for posting.

and I were similarly affected by his piece.

All the logic, statistics and factual evidence of corruption can't prevent you from realising that whilst you think you're inured to the vicarious hardships and deaths of beautiful small brown babies in far off countries you're actually kidding yourself that you can rationalise and compartmentalise their predicament because actually it takes little more than a short film by a fat Radio 1 DJ to crash-land into your living-room and derail you from your cosseted Friday night existence in front of the TV to such an extent that your conscience screams at you like a wounded animal that you're complicit in perpetuating what is fundamentally wrong in this world that we in the "developed" countries patronisingly call a global village.

It would have passed me by otherwise.

wiped up the tears and managed to hide my sobs from my wife upstairs. I missed this last night and usually avoid these sort of things for this very reason but sometimes we do need to open our eyes and see what's going on out there.

on clicking on the comments for this:

"You can't request more than 20 challenges without solving them. Your previous challenges were flushed"

Eh? It was above the original post, highlighted in yellow. Everything else was visible. I'm guessing this is some sort of system message rather than the Word Blog equivalent of messages in the runout?

I find that these things have a much greater effect on me now that I have kids of my own. Shortly after the birth of our first I found myself having something in my eye after one of those give-to-Great-Ormond-Street afternoon ads. 

Moyles had talked a little bit about the trip on his radio show. He explained that he had avoided requests for years to go to Africa for Comic Relief for the reason that he was a little cynical about things but also indicating that it wasn't in his comfort zone.  Moyles, in fairness, has done a lot to raise money for comic/sport relief: his Kilamanjaro trek last year brought in over a million and he's been cheerleading the fundraising on the texts for the last month. I think Moyles style has softened over the last 2-3 years, and just because his show isn't aimed at/designed for £50-man, doesn't mean he's not a very able broadcaster. 

I saw this too, and like the rest of you, did find it really moving - a very powerful piece of film.

But within seconds of it finishing I was thinking about how much I hated whoever was directing / producing the piece, because it seemed to me that somebody had walked into that room and asked " have you got any little kids that might die today... can we film them?". It seemed a cynical thing to do, and I felt cynical for even contemplating that possibility.

Which got me to thinking about a book I read at University called 'The Journalist and the Murderer' by Janet Malcolm; which I recall being all about the ethics and morality of journalism and journalistic choices. I'm not sure the book was any good (I skim read a lot in those days), but it did make me consider the brutality of the choice the reporter might sometimes be faced with.

I think they were right to show it. My initial reaction really was just a case of me 'shooting the messenger': if it takes this kind of thing to wake us from our self-pitying state of inertia, then so be it.

It's just a shame that most people only pay attention to these iniquities when a minor celebrity shows up.If it makes you feel better to give some cash do so,I did,I always have but don't think it will effect the sweeping changes needed to end the massive problems that beset this unequal planet,it won't.We are very lucky that in the lottery of life we came up trumps.

For far too long, HIV/AIDS has been the drum banged by Bono et al whilst malaria and diarrhorea claim far more young lives. Soap and mosquito nets are the lifesavers and someone has seemingly passed this information on to the fundraisers.

and I was straight on the internet to donate.

It was very moving.

Right here, this is what Bono has been going on about all this time and getting so much stick for.

I actually saw this and it's moving. He's all bluff and bluster but underneath he's just like the rest of us.

I think you're right about when you have kids you feel it more. I don't as it happens, but I do have nieces and nephews whom I adore, so it goes get me.

That said, I've still not donated.

Guilt.