The Development of Story about Je Suis Charlie across the Media Channels - Essay Example

Je Suis Charlie: Introduction: Je Suis Charlie was a slogan that was developed by people supporting the freedom of press and speech. This term came after the 7th of January 2015 massacre, of about 12 people, who were killed in a French satirical newspaper, referred to as Charlie Hebdo. This happened in the city of Paris. Je Suis Charlie is therefore a slogan that identifies with people who were supporting or were in solidarity with the people who were killed, by terrorists at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper. A variety of journalists were able to embrace this slogan, as a rallying call, for freedom of expression and speech. Twitter is the first media channel to use this slogan, and it was under the hash tag, #jusuischarlie. This slogan was also trending in another hash tag, #iamcharlie, which is a translation of Je Suis Charlie (Lee, 2015). Within a span of two weeks after the attack, the slogan was very popular in Twitter, and the history of Twitter. This concept of Je Suis Charlie became acceptable worldwide, and it was displayed in animated cartoons, and this includes the famous cartoon, the Simpsons (Lee, 2015). The print media, such as New York Times, The Guardian, also embraced this term, and they constantly used it, while reporting on the terrorist attack, at the Charlie Hebdo satirical News Paper. The reason for this attack is the depiction of a cartoon image of prophet Muhammad (Lee, 2015). This paper tracks the development of this story, across the media channels, and this includes both the mainstream and the alternative media. The mainstream media organizations that this paper tracks this story from, includes, BBC, CNN and Yahoo. The alternative media, that this paper analyzes the manner which they reported this story, is WSWS, which is an abbreviation of the World Socialist Web, and the news channel, referred to as Democracy Now. Development of the Story through the Mainstream Media: Yahoo Media is one of the mainstream media organizations that were responsible for covering this news event. In its coverage of this event, the headline of the news story begins, with the words, “Paris shooting…. ”(Yahoo News, 2015). This title introduces the audience to what had just happened. It tries to create suspense to the reader, and this is in a bid of making the reader to read more from the topic. Creation of suspense is one of the most important elements of a news story, and this is because it would catch the eyes of a reader, creating a desire to the person, to go on and read the paper (Lee, 2015). This suspense is quenched when the title, further goes on to denote that, the suspected terrorists, who were involved in the Charlie Hebdo attacks, were all killed by police officers (Yahoo News, 2015). Yahoo Media does not provide a detailed analysis of what was happening. It provides a short description of the attacks, the people involved, and the actions of the police officers. In a short paragraph, Yahoo denotes that three terrorists were killed, and the fourth one managed to escape, and he is being sought by the police (Yahoo News, 2015). In covering this story, Yahoo uses only one paragraph. However, the bulk of information emanating from yahoo, are removed from thee hash tags of twitter. As noted earlier, twitter played an influential role in criticizing these attacks, and Yahoo relied heavily on its hash tags, to cover the news, and provide information (Yahoo News, 2015). One of the major reasons advanced for the heavy reliance of other media sources to cover this story, is based on the fact that Yahoo mainly relies on freelance journalists. These are not permanent employees; therefore, yahoo did not have a reliable source of information (Lee, 2015). Furthermore, Yahoo is an organization that does not only depend on the provision of news to survive, but it also provides other services such as internet search engine solutions. Furthermore, most of the revenues of Yahoo Inc are coming from internet search engine solution. This means that it would not lay emphasis on the provision of news. This is completely different, when compared to the other mainstream media organizations such as BBC, and CNN. However, one notable similarity in the manner which Yahoo, CNN and BBC were able to cover this story is the use of pictures. Yahoo Inc extensively relies on the pictures of politicians, while covering this story. For instance, Yahoo depicts the pictures of President Hollande, walking towards the site of the Charlie Hebdo killings (Yahoo News, 2015) . Therefore, the organization uses two methods of relying information, concerning the Charlie Hebdo killing. It uses both visual and written pieces of information to convey its message. The use of a combination of the written and visual pieces of information is an effective method of conveying information. This is because it is appealing and easy to understand. Unlike Yahoo, BBC provides a very detailed analysis and development of this story (BBC, 2015). In explaining what happened, BBC carries out a live coverage of the events, and this includes interviewing senior police officers and security experts during the siege. While covering this story, BBC insists that the onslaught on Charlie Hebdo newspapers was an onslaught against freedom of speech, and that of the media. This is as opposed to the coverage of Yahoo Inc, which identified these people as terrorists, and it did not mention, anything to do with the freedom of speech, and that of the media. In covering this story, BBC provided a step by step analysis of the efforts of the French police officers to ending the siege (BBC, 2015). It identifies how they entered the buildings where the terrorists were holding their hostages, how the police were able to rescue the hostages, and contain the situation. Furthermore, in reporting on the issue, BBC was able to get into details, and analyze the cause of the massacre, narrowing it down on the decision by Charlie Hebdo to publish cartoons, depicting Prophet Mohammed (BBC, 2015). For purposes of criticizing this massacre, BBC was able to depict some cartoon of Prophet Mohammed, in its news channel. Furthermore, this was in its bid to promote the freedom of speech (Lee, 2015). Furthermore, BBC concentrated on the use of video footages in developing this story. BBC was able to capture the activities of the French Special Forces, in their bid to free the hostages. For instance, the coverage of the death of Kouchi brothers is covered in detail by BBC. In covering these stories, BBC was using eye witnesses to provide an account of what was happening, and video clips of the minister of interior praising the works of the police. In developing this story, CNN also took the approach of BBC (Lee, 2015). This is by using video footages, and eye witness accounts for purposes of explaining what was happening inside the buildings. CNN was also in support of the assertions by BBC, that the Charlie Hebdo attacks were an attack against the media, and freedom of the media (BBC, 2015). The use of eye witness account is not depicted in the reporting by Yahoo Inc. This is because the organization does not provide a detailed analysis of the killings, and how the French government was able to resolve the killings (Lee, 2015). Development of the Story by the Alternative Media WSWS.org, and Democracy Now are examples of alternative media, and they also covered and developed the story. However, these organizations did not have their own reporters on the ground, but they used information from other leading media organizations. Take for instance, WSWS.org (WSWS, 2015). This organization does not provide the coverage of the events, but it only criticizes the manner which media houses such as CNN and BBC have covered the story. For instance, WSWS.org denotes that it is hypocritical for the media houses to use the concept of the freedom of the media while condemning the attacks against the Charlie Hebdo newspapers (WSWS, 2015). This organization denotes that, the bid of curtailing freedom of the media is not the major issue, but the social injustices that other people are suffering from, because of the activities of United States, and other world powers. Democracy Now takes a different approach, and this is because it uses eye witnesses to convey the message, and cover the story. It is important to explain that these two types of media houses were not relying on journalists to cover the story, but on the account of eye witnesses, and other media organizations. Conclusion: In conclusion, the methods used in developing this story by BBC and CNN, is through video clips, footages, and eye witness accounts. These organizations rely on eye witnesses to provide an account of what was happening, and the methods that the French police used for purposes of ending the siege. Yahoo, in its coverage of the story did not go into detail, but it identified the issues and the factors that caused an attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper. The alternative media were not as efficient as the mainstream media. This is because they were relying on the information provided by the mainstream media, and critiquing the information under consideration. Therefore, the identified alternative media did not play a role in the development of this news story. The Charlie Hebdo Attack Islamic extremism is on the rise. Most recently, Islamic extremists were able to kill 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper. This is because of the intention of the editor to depict the cartoon of Prophet Mohammed crying. This is unacceptable act that has to be condemned by the international community. In fact, the international community was able to stand behind France, with condemnations of the act coming from United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries of the world. The killing of un-armed journalists is an example of terrorism, and a cowardly act. For purposes of fighting terror, there is a need of initiating measures aimed at fighting Islamic extremism. One of the best methods is to educate our children on the dangers of terrorism, and the need of living in harmony and peace with one another. In fact, some of the killed terror suspects had some links with extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda, and this is the reason why they were able to carry out such an attack on innocent civilians. Various governments in the world ought to collaborate with one another for purposes of fighting terrorism. This is because terrorism is a global problem, and there is a need of cooperation by all countries in the world, for purposes of ending terror. The attackers of Charlie Hebdo were by all means terrorists. A terrorist is an individual who wants to achieve his or her objective by instilling fear. These four attackers wanted to prevent the cartoon publication of Prophet Mohammed, by Charlie Hebdo. They wrongfully thought that the best way of achieving this objective is through instilling fear. In fact, if they were alive today, they would be disappointed. This is because the attacks at Charlie Hebdo provoked the international media, who in turn published various cartoon like figures of the prophet. The media houses refused to be intimidated by terrorists, hence publishing those materials, in support of Charlie Hebdo. The social media such as twitter also played an influential role in ensuring that there is a support of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper agency. Twitter, was operating under the hash tag, Je Suis Charlie. This is a French word which says that I am Charlie. These has tags were able to acquire numerous support, and it was very popular, with millions of people supporting it. This is an indication that it is only few people who are intolerant of the views of other people. These are extremists and they need to be eliminated. The French police did a good job in containing the terrorists. This is because non was able to escape. All of them were killed, with minimum casualty on the side of the French police. It is therefore prudent that all of us should stand against terrorism, and this includes condemning any religious extremist movement. Bibliography: WSWS. “Free Speech” Hypocrisy in the aftermath of the attack on Charlie Hebdo- (2015 January 9). Retrieved April 17, 2015, from https//www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/01/09/pers-j09.html. BBC. (n.d). Live: As it Happened: France Siege ends. Retrieved April 17, 2015, from http//www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-30722098 Yahoo News. (2015, January 9th ). Paris Shooting:Charlie Hebdo Terror Suspects Killed in Police raid. Retrieved April 17th 2015, from http:news.yahoo.com/paris-shooting-je-suis- charlie-hebdo-attack-live-coverage-151842914.html Top of Form LEE, N. (2015). Counterterrorism and cybersecurity: total information awareness. Bottom of Form Read More