We knew that the surviving staff of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack was going to print a new edition next week, but Google has stepped in to help Charlie Hebdo print 1M copies of the Jan 14 edition – which is far higher than its usual circulation, which is about 50,000 (per week). This is coming from Google’s Press Innovation Fund and would equate to about 250,000 euros of printing costs. The fund was originally created to solve a financial dispute between Google and European Media.The image says: “Because the Pen will always be higher than barbarism… Because freedom is a universal right… because you support us… We, CHARLIE, will publish your journal next Wednesday”.
“The fund is trying to figure out a way to provide a financial support to Charlie Hebdo. We’re working on a process in order to find an exceptional answer to an exceptional situation.” (Ludovic Blecher, Google IPWA Fund)
Since eight staff members were killed during the attack, Charlie has asked for, and obtained, help from writers and cartoonists from around the world, to help fill the missing pages.
Support has also poured from journal distributors, some of whom will work for free to support the next special edition. More help is planned from various media companies and state actors, but they are still in the planning stage at this point."STUPIDITY WILL NOT WIN (CHARLIE HEBDO STAFF)"
The surviving staff has vowed that despite fear and grief, they must continue to publish or their friends would have “died for nothing”. One of them said “we will continue. They will not win”. “Stupidity will not win” they concluded.
According to witnesses, the attack was carried by masked men who wanted to “take revenge” on past satirical cartoons and articles that derided Islamic Extremists. The journal and its staff had been under threat and police protection for years. ISIS even had their photos in a “wanted: dead or alive” list. Here are some of the cartoon drawings that the attackers felt were worth killing for.
Since the attack, a huge wave of support has risen in France, but also worldwide, with the tag #JeSuisCharlie (#IAmCharlie) trending on Twitter and other social networks, peaking at 3.5M Tweets according to recent reports.