French Government Donates $1.2 Million to Charlie Hebdo
The ailing French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is set to receive a financial reprieve of $1.2 million from the French government following the barbaric attack in their office that resulted in the death of 12 people. The attack has generated wide spread criticism from the public and is being seen as direct threat to the freedom of speech. While the publication had been receiving threats for a long time for lampooning political leaders and religious beliefs, the attack on Wednesday is being considered as the worst terrorist attack in France in over 20 years.
The financial support comes at a crucial time for the magazine when its future was said to be in serious doubt following the death of its editors and cartoonists. The magazine has since received donations from several quarters. Google has donated $290,000 through the Press Innovation Fund for the magazine while other French newspapers in the country have promised to donate another €250,000 through the Press and Pluralism Fund. The Guardian Media group is reported to be making a donation of $150,000 as well for the magazine. In addition to that, a separate crowd funding campaign has managed to generate over $28,000.
The staff at Charlie Hebdo in the meanwhile are moving full steam to get their next issue ready in time. Richard Malka, lawyer for magazine has said on TV that the company has resolved to print over 1 million copies of the magazine. The magazine usually prints only 60,000 copies on a weekly basis. The support for the magazine has been overwhelming with millions of users on various social networks posting the #jesuischarlie hash tag as a symbol of their support.
