Newsday.com: French Media Using Less Rioting Footage

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# French Media Using Less Rioting Footage
By ELAINE GANLEY Associated Press Writer November 12, 2005, 3:11 PM EST PARIS -- Unrest wracking France for more than two weeks presents a tough challenge to French media. At least two television stations scaled back broadcasting images of flaming vehicles -- a mainstay of coverage -- to avoid stoking violence. Some channels decided not to provide daily police figures on the number of cars burned overnight, in the thousands since troubles began Oct. 27. Is it self-censorship? Or a sense of responsibility? Television stations that are holding back deny any influence from police, who insist publicity for the riots has fueled "copycat" violence. Instead, the stations say they don't want to play into the hands of rampaging youths seeking coverage of what they see as their exploits. Violence erupted in a northeastern suburb of Paris and spread across France. It has dramatically abated since a state of emergency was imposed Wednesday, empowering local authorities to impose curfews and giving police extra powers. LCI, an all-news television channel, decided a week ago to stop showing images of burning cars -- nightly fare on all stations at the start of the violence. "A burning car is extremely impressive," said LCI weekend editor Laurent Drezner, adding that the channel continues to show the hulks of burned-out cars. "We are informing without sensationalism." The decision followed a series of phone calls to the station, apparently from the troublemakers, asking "Why haven't you sent cameras?" The questions came after TV crews who were stoned by gangs started staying away from trouble spots, Drezner said. The station concluded that fiery images provoked a "serial effect." The French press, both newspapers and TV, responded with all-out coverage when rioting erupted in Clichy-Sous-Bois following the accidental deaths of two teenagers electrocuted as they hid from police at a power substation. Each night, journalists chased police and fire trucks, some donning motorcycle helmets when youths began chucking stones at them. A handful of journalists, French and foreign, have been injured. TFI, the most widely viewed station, also started withholding images of burning cars and buildings, news director Robert Namias told the daily Le Monde. No one could be immediately reached at the station for comment. State-run channel France-3, meanwhile, is not reporting daily police figures of vehicles set afire. Deputy director Jacques Bayle said the station does not consider such numbers an accurate barometer of the violence, which also has ravaged schools, warehouses and public buildings -- figures not made public by police. Such figures lead to a "restrictive vision" of the violence and incite troublemakers "to try to beat the record like in a sports match," Bayle said. In early November, as the unrest entered its second week, the Foreign Ministry complained foreign media were hyping the unrest. And some French citizens blame both national and foreign press coverage for the spread of violence. The press feeds "the challenge between the housing projects," said Julien Rodier, 22, a student from Marseille attending a peace demonstration Friday in Paris. "The difficulty is the dosage," Namias, the TF1 information director, was quoted as saying by the daily Le Parisien. "Our rule of thumb: Say everything without necessarily showing everything." Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.