How newspapers around the world covered the Orlando shooting

By Fusion Staff  |  June 13, 2016 | 5:45pm
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In a tweet yesterday morning, political commentator Ian Bremmer made a startling point about Americans’ reactions in the wake of Sunday morning’s Orlando massacre at a gay nightclub that left 49 dead.

One need only take a glance at Monday morning’s front pages from newspapers around the world to get a sense of the deep divisions he’s referring to.

With the help of the database of the Newseum, we’ve compiled a selection of front pages that tell the story from across the globe. What emerges is a portrait of profoundly different understandings of what unfolded in Orlando.

First, there were those who correctly emphasized that the gunman explicitly targeted a gay nightclub.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel even mentioned that it was Pulse’s Latin Night, one of the few outlets to do so.

Even papers in more conservative regions of the country, like Hot Springs, Arkansas, recognized the targeting of the LGBT community was an essential element of the story.

Meanwhile, many papers in Connecticut, where the 2012 Newtown school shooting occurred, emphasized the gun control angle.

Ditto for the New York Daily News, which previously attacked the NRA in its Newtown coverage.

And then there were the papers who went straight for the fact that the gunman allegedly pledged his support to ISIS, making no mention of his having targeted the LGBT community, or of out-of-control gun use in America.

A similar split emerged around the world. Editions of the Metro publishing group in Brazil and Canada emphasized the LGBT angle…

…As did papers in Austria (’50 dead in terrorist attack in a gay bar’)…

Brazil…

…And France (‘Orlando: A gaping wound. The attack in a gay club left at least 50 dead and as many wounded in Florida Saturday night. ISIS claimed responsibility for the shooting, the worst in U.S. history.’)

Meanwhile, other outlets led with the ISIS angle. Here’s one from Argentina (‘Islamic State Again: they claim the worst attack in the U.S. since 9/11)…

The Czech Republic…

And Germany’s notoriously hyperbolic, conservative Bild (‘At least 50 dead, 50 wounded: This is the gays-killer from Orlando; Omar Siddiqui Mateen shot 50 people in the Pulse night club. He supported ISIS’)

Belgium’s DeMorgen had arguably the most nuanced take: ‘Attack at nightclub in U.S. divides country even more.’ It goes on to discuss Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s varied reactions to the incident.

Finally, the Orlando Sentinel, the city’s largest newspaper, published a rare front-page op-ed. However, it fell short of explicitly acknowledging Pulse’s important role in Central Florida’s LGBT community. “We proudly reaffirm Orlando’s identity as a welcoming, inclusive place,” the paper said instead.

Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.

 
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