Following the bloody massacre that left 12 people dead when two gunmen opened fire on the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris last week, the publication has released its first cover.
The cover reveals the Prophet Muhammad holding a “Je suis Charlie” sign with the caption “All is forgiven” in French above it on a green background.
About 25 members of the staff huddled in group meetings to work on the next cover just two days after 12 people at the paper were shot and killed in an act of terror by two French Muslim brothers. As a result, the staff opted out of a memorial issue and decided to stick to the normal schedule.
“We decided that we would do a normal edition, not a memorial issue,” Mr. Gérard Biard, one of the paper’s top editors, said on Friday, where an emotional three-hour staff meeting had just ended. Caterers brought in trays of smoked salmon, sandwiches and cream-filled desserts. A row of plainclothes police officers stood watch outside. Journalists hovered. Five desktop computers from Le Monde were set up on a round glass table. Since the attacks, donations have been pouring in, and a fund has been set up, jaidecharlie.fr (“I help Charlie”).
The newspaper, which usually prints 60,000 copies, will print over 1 million or an extra 2 million copies this week, depending on the demand. They will receive financial help from Google, Le Monde, and other organizations.
