Charlie Hebdo: High Controversy In Cartoons

The Charlie Hebdo magazine is a French satirical magazine that includes cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. The publishers claim to be far-left-wing, atheist, and anti-racist, while often commenting on those who are far-right, as well as religion, politics, and culture (Wikipedia.org). Recently, Charlie Hebdo published two cartoons that sparked high controversy in the September 2015 edition. This is the first time since the terrorist attacks on the publishers in 2011 and early in 2015, that the magazine has been put into the spotlight for their insensitivity to current issues and unethical publishing. In the September 2015 edition, two cartoons not only taunted the drowning of Alan Kurdi, a Syrian refugee, whose body was found on the shore

These two cartoons sparked such a high controversy because of the unethicality behind them. If Charlie Hebdo was an American magazine, the publishers would have been reprimanded for violating Journalism 's Code of Ethics. This code of ethics clearly states, "...Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects...Be sensitive when seeking/using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief..." (SPJ.org). In regards to the two cartoons from the September 2015 edition, Charlie Hebdo clearly did not abide by this code of ethics. However, because this is a French magazine, it does not have to. Even still, this magazine publication (like many others) is still highly unethical because it failed to take Alan Kurdi and his family into consideration, and they failed to recognize that the cartoons disrespected the entire Muslim culture. Unfortunately, Charlie Hebdo is known for discriminating against the Muslim culture, often drawing insolent images with the Prophet Muhammad. As a result, 12 people associated with the magazine were killed in a series of terrorist attacks. Surprisingly enough, the publishers still continued to include offensive cartoons in their magazine. In response to the September 2015 edition, many who support Charlie Hebdo came to the defense of the publishers and made the assertion that those who do not understand satire should not read Charlie Hebdo (MorroccoWorldNews.com). Although satire is often used to criticize political issues, there is a very thin line between satire and discrimination. There is no definitive line for Charlie Hebdo, and satire cannot be used as a reason to