Masked gunmen entered and terrorized a French satirical newspaper on Wednesday, January 7, 2015. There were 12 reported deaths at the scene. Among those who were killed were top journalists and two police officers. Key individuals who worked for the newspaper were responsible for producing political cartoons against Islamic terrorists. A police officer was stationed at the newspaper, however, they were killed upon arrival of the gunmen.
Was there enough security for the employees of the newspaper?
The newspaper housed radical ideas in their works. They were a satirical newspaper. Due to the nature of what they were producing (anti Islamic terrorist articles and cartoons), I do believe they should have had at least a little more protection. I also think they could have chosen a more secluded location to run their newspaper from. Someplace hidden would have made targeting them much harder. Larger newspapers have the luxury of their size to protect them.
I'm not really sure on how I would ensure better safety for journalists, mainly because journalist do report on sometimes touchy subjects. Many people are offended by news, especially if it supports an opposing view point. In this case, the political cartoons against Islamic terrorists is an obvious jab to anyone who believes in the terrorists' viewpoint. Being a journalist can always become a risk depending on what he/she reports, as well as any other newspaper workers involve themselves in
Most newspaper companies do not have that much security for events like these, but after receiving threats they should increase security,but even then it is very difficult to stop these types of attacks.
Knowing that the ideas the newspaper published could be seen so controversially by a larger group of people, the security should have been better than it was and there should have been some kind of plan in the even that something like this might happen.
No one knew that this was going to happen. There was security but obviously not enough and not prepared for this act. Although with all these terrorist attacks going on and the fact that the newspaper lampooned Islamic Terrorist and the prophet Muhammad(which is a very important prophet to Muslims), the thought of this happening should have crossed their mind and they should have bettered their security.
It is my understanding that they had been under police protection for a while. Having said that, the attackers appeared to be trained and were heavily armed. The footage shows them wielding AK-47's and AK-74's and there are some RUMORS of militants with RPGs. The assault rifles are fully automatic, unlike the AR-15, a and are illegal in many countries and states. There was no stopping this without having the military guarding the newspaper.
Well, I think there should be more police officers now that this tragedy has happened. However, I think at the time there was no way of knowing this would happen. But, the journalists were reporting on a touchy subject during a time of high tensions. So perhaps there should have been more protection for them.
I read an article last night indicating that the French government had offered added security (they were already providing some based on the threats, and had encouraged the newspaper to back down from some of their more extreme content) and the editor had turned it down :(. SUCH a tragedy
__________________
Lego, Cav (the Lego brand name was derived from the Danish expression "leg godt" - play well - and lego also translates in Latin as "I study" or "I put together"...really, one of the world's most perfect words!)
I think generally you would not think that a newspaper company would need much security, however, maybe since these journalists were creating political cartoons on Islamic terrorist it might have been a good idea to have better protection for the employees. In most situations like this, though, a few more police would not have changed the outcome by much.
The attack on this newspaper is a terrible example of how other parts of the world can not speak as freely as we do here in the United States. Something to take away from this is how lucky we are to live in an environment where we do have freedom of speech, and we may say what we like without fearing severe consequences. It is horrifying to see events like this unfold in places we think of as some of the safest.
I think tis is extremely sad not only because it was so brutal and extremely wtong of them but the newspaper posted things they thought were funny and posted what they wanted to post and it is not up to al-Queda to decide whether or not they should live because of what they posted. They got offended, so what? You see things on media outlets all the time that would offend people but that is in no way a justifable reason to kill them.
as being a satirical newspaper that targets all races and religions maybe a higher security may have been necessary, however you would never think that an office building that writes a newspaper would be the scene of 12 murders. terrorism can attack anywhere at anytime and security where people are most vulnerable should be strengthened. although a huge tragedy, hopefully organizations and people will learn that when offered extra security it should be take and used. terrorism can happen a anytime and we must take any means to ensure our safety.
Free press shouldn't require extra security and I don't think giving the newspaper extra security would have been very effective, as the attackers came in killed who they wanted dead and got out with very limited collateral damage. Security should be stepped up temporarily to stop any copycat attacks, and then reduced once again.
