Satires, Narratives and Journalistic Divides: Discourses on Free Speech in Western and Islamic News Media

This study investigates how Western news media (The New York Times and BBC News) and Islamic news media (Al-Jazeera English and Al-Arabiya English) frame issues about freedom of expression and anti-Islamic sentiments, respectively, in the aftermath of the January 7, 2015, attacks on France's weekly satirical newsmagazine, Charlie Hebdo. Results show a deep divide: that the Western news media, on the one hand, endorsed Charlie Hebdo's right to offend religious sensitivities and lauded its role to protect the Western value of free speech; and that the Islamic news media, on the other, viewed the entire Western discourses as anti-Islam and anti-Muslim, emphasizing the need for good taste and professionalism in journalism.