The French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo normally has a print run of 30,000. Following the attack on its premises, this week’s copy was upped to 3 million and seemingly that was not enough so the publishers plan to print a further 2 million.
Those wanting to buy a copy queued outside newstands in France from 5:45 in the morning. When the kiosks opened, their copies sold out within minutes. Then they started to appear on EBay with people bidding hundreds of pounds just to get hold of one*.
Those that are buying copies would say that they are doing so as an act of solidarity to the victims. I would say that it has more to do with curiosity; they want to know what all the fuss was about and why the attackers were so incensed by the cartoons and articles published in Charlie Hebdo. No doubt, the sale of future copies will wane and print runs will return to normal.
I wonder, what will those people who paid hundreds for their copies do with them? Having one copy out of five million hardly makes it a rarity. I don’t think we will be seeing them at auction at Christies or Sotherbys any time soon!
* Bear in mind that the 16 page paper sells for about £2.30 at the newstands.
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