The solidarity of je suis Charlie that swept the media and the streets of Paris in the wake of last week’s terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo seems to be cooling in the cold light of editorial reality.
There was an awkward moment during Adam Boulton’s Sky News Tonight show on Wednesday, when former Charlie Hebdo contributor Caroline Fourest attempted to show the front cover of the latest issue, which features a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad.
During a live two-way with Sky News presenter Dharshini David, the broadcaster swiftly cut away after Fourest denounced the British media outlets who had decided not to show the front page of the satirical magazine’s “survivors” issue.
“I am very sad that journalists in the UK do not support us, that journalists in the UK betray what journalism is about by thinking that people are not grown-up enough to decide whether a drawing is offensive or not,” she said.
Fourest got the top half of the cover in vision before Sky cut away, with David swiftly interjecting to say that the news broadcaster had decided not to show that cover and apologising to viewers for any offence caused.
Monkey has to dock Fourest points for poor technique here: the ducked head and rustling of newsprint gave Sky producers a clear indication of what was coming. Maybe a tablet computer would have proved more successful for Fourest?
