FRANCE:  YELLOW VESTS AND THE MEDIA-DEEP DISTRUST PLUS DANGER FROM POLICE ATTACKS

"I don't think the media has been very fair to the gilets jaunes."

Yellow Vests Protester Michael Bonjour In Bourges, France 1/12/2019

"I've been to several of the protests in Paris and the things I've seen....police officers hitting people who weren't doing anything wrong four or five times, sometimes over the head.  Horrible injuries, with people (gilets jaunes) covered in blood"

Yellow Vests Protester Laetita Diat In Bourges, France 1/12/2019

On Saturday Yellow Vests protesters expressed their dissatisfaction with media coverage of their protest.

Both government and ostensibly "private" media are seen as giving a one sided picture of things with the government's version far outweighing their view.

Protest signs against the government of Emmanuel Macron are sometimes accompanied by those critical of the media coverage.

"BFM, CNews, LCI" spread hate and lies"

is an example of what one protest sign read.

Last week BFM-TV journalists went so far as to boycott coverage of the Yellow Vests for one day.

The media talk about threats from Yellow Vests protesters while they are covering protests but it seems when blood is drawn involving journalists their injuries are caused by police "flash bang" rounds.

There have been a number of incidents the most recent last Saturday in La Rochelle, a city on the Atlantic coast of France.

Photojournalist Xavier Leoty, who works for the "South West" newspaper and the AFP (Agence France Press) news agency, said he could clearly be identified as a member of the media but police took deliberate aim at his knee.

He was bloodied and injured by the police "flash bang" round being rescued by Yellow Vests medics at the protest.


Link below...…


THE LOCAL FRANCE STORY IN ENGLISH

(UPDATED MONDAY EVENING, INFORMATION FROM BFM-TV PART OF THIS POST, ALSO EDITED TO CORRECT NAME OF SECOND PROTESTER QUOTED AT TOP)