Yellow vests. Insults, spitting, threats ... journalists denounce a tense climate

"The journalist has the feather, the microphone or the camera to be abused, insult, conspire": dozens of journalists have denounced on social networks tensions in the context of coverage of gatherings of yellow vests.

Eight journalists from Montpellier, gathered in the collective "Pay you a journalist", launched Monday, November 19 a call to "renew the dialogue with citizens . " "The journalist is flabbergasted, the microphone or the camera to be abused, insult, conspire. Along with other media confreres, they denounce a tense climate in Yellow Vests rallies.

We have just launched #payetoiunjournaliste in view of the attacks on journalists in the exercise of their profession. An FB page open to all exists to talk about it and exchange together. pic.twitter.com/N2Rimv6rWZ

Racist insults

Saturday, November 17, at the exit of Besançon, a volunteer photographer of the radio Bip association endured racist slurs before receiving a punch in the face, said the radio in a statement, stating that a complaint had been filed Monday .

Press release about the racist attack on our fellow volunteer reporter photographer (to be shared with all editorial staff) #YellowCards # Besançonhttps: //t.co/DtoK8Uga51

An egg received during a live

BFMTV claims to have been particularly targeted by the protesters. Saturday night, a reporter received an egg during a live on the Champs-Elysees, a complaint was filed. Monday night, dozens of yellow jackets have appeared at the foot of the Parisian editorial of the channel, according to his direction.

On Sunday, a young journalist for BFMTV was attacked by protesters near Montpellier, which prompted her to launch the "Pay your journalist" movement with friends and colleagues. "I was barking on it," said the reporter, Céline Durchon.

These incidents "are more and more frequent and do not allow to work in a serene way , " protested Hervé Béroud, director of information in audiovisual at Altice France, the parent company of BFMTV. His reporters are live "10 to 20 times a day depending on where they are, and often in the midst of protesters," he recalls. BFMTV is now trying to "anonymize" its reporters by changing the windscreens that protect the microphones, and sometimes accompanied by bodyguards.

The SNJ syndicate of France Televisions also said Tuesday in a statement "insults suffered by France Télévisions reporting teams or broadcast on social networks . "

#Yellowjackets: Journalists are not targets !!! # france3 #francetv @SNJ_national https://t.co/A9RpyerA5Y pic.twitter.com/3U7RyXftJc

"Our teams are jeering, insulting"

The photo of a cameraman shooting on a roadblock was broadcast on social media, where he was threatened with reprisals, and a film crew was also stuck in his car for nearly an hour and was by insults, according to the SNJ.

"Our teams are jeered, insults," confirmed the director of regional information of France 3 , Bernard Loche, who reserves the right to file a complaint. "We hear a lot of rejection of institutions, and they tend here and there to put journalists in the same bag . " The manager asked the local management to "remind their teams if their safety was not assured" .