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Charlie Hebdo

Charlie Hebdo riches fail to draw cartoonists

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By John Glenday | Reporter

February 26, 2015 | 1 min read

French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is facing a drought of contributors just weeks after gunmen stormed its offices killing eight its writers and cartoonists, despite soaring distribution to 2.5m in the wake of an outpouring of public sympathy.

New editor Laurent Sourisseau has complained of difficulties in recruitment from cartoonists fearful of repercussions from association with the title with many asking ‘Will I have to come to the editorial conference? Do I have to sign under my real name?’

It comes amidst internal wrangling over the distribution of profits with surviving shareholders resisting employee calls for a cooperative. Sourisseau himself has a 40 per cent stake in the business.

Record sales saw 8m copies of its special Survivors Edition shifted, generating €12 million in sales. Subscriptions generated a further €3 million and donations topped €4.2 million – eclipsing the €5.2 million revenue generated throughout the whole of 2013.

Hebdo’s financial director, Eric Portheault, has said that all donations will be passed on to the families of victims with sales revenue used to pay for high-security office space.

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