Photo from Charlie Hebdou©
Current Events 1 “Je Suis Charlie”
On January 7th, 2015, an act of terror took place
in Paris, France. A weekly satirical newspaper, known as “Charlie Hebdo”
meaning, “Weekly Charlie” was attacked my Islamic extremist. 9 members of the
“Charlie” work force were killed, including their editor in chief, Stephane Charbonnier. These attacks
originated from a long standing feud between the community and the magazines
depictions of the prophet “Mohammad”. In
2011, the magazine was firebombed for the depiction of the Islamic prophet, and
now after another drawn depiction of a high standing figure, an attack was
carried out. Two men entered into the magazine’s corridors, gunning down a
specific list of people, proving this was most definitely a premeditated killing
spree. As of 10/1/15, the editors of “Charlie Hebdo” report that they are most
definitely continuing their magazine, in the same, satirical, view as always.
Anything is up to attack under Charlie.
This attack truly shows the way that media can provoke
aggression. This is a far more complicated issue than just blaming any religion
or a group of entities. Whether it was a Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or even
Pagan group of individuals shouldn’t be the focus of this. Instead, we should
look deeper at what sparks controversy. This decades old newspaper suffered a
tragic loss, all based on what they decided to release. We must think how it is
that free press is limited, and if they were to instead post satirical pictures
only of other figures, would this attack have happened at all. Religion is by
far one of the biggest influences of what is reported in the media. It’s not
common to see a media source blatantly supporting their religion, however
behind the scenes; many different agencies are run by different values. Is it
possible that in today’s society, one that is so focused on the idea of
“tolerance” that we’re unable to see what is happening? It’s extremely
refreshing to hear that the publishers of Charlie Hebdo are going to move
forward past this, and the attention that it draws from all groups can
hopefully bring a bit more attention to how the media is under pressure to be
self-restricted today.
For more information on the attack, look at these:
To support Charlie Hebdo, and free speech, click here: http://www.charliehebdo.fr/index.html
The article published on this topic opened my eyes. It primarily discusses ways of how people from unique backgrounds with different values react to certain situations that is being depicted by mediated point of view. Controversial examples such as that of religion and how it provokes aggression have also been main focus of your work. Excellent!
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