On Saturday, January 19, the tenth mass rally of “yellow vests” was held in France. According to official police data, 84 thousand people took to the streets of French cities, but the protesters themselves believe that the authorities, and after them the mainstream media, significantly underestimate the actual number of demonstrators.
Thus, according to the project “yellow number” (Le Nombre Jaune), in the framework of which the activists themselves are counting demonstrators, by 6 pm local time more than 86 thousand people took part in protest actions across the country. The final results of the Saturday performances "yellow vests" are going to take in the near future.
Activists strongly oppose such manipulation of figures by the authorities, and after them by a number of mass media. Thus, during the broadcast of the video agency RT Ruptly from Paris, a poster of one of the protesters got into the frame, urging the local media to be more attentive to the figures and not to be puppets of the government.
"Mediapart, BFM, LCI, TF1 - information parsley, learn to count or watch RT", - read the inscription.
Apparently, the talk in this appeal is about a different interpretation of data on the real number of protesters. For example, according to the same official data of the authorities, a week ago 84 thousand people took to the streets of French cities, while according to the information from the “yellow number” project this figure was almost doubled down. Activists claim that on January 12, more than 159 thousand French took part in protest actions, and on the 5th, not 50, but 123,5 thousand people took to the streets.
En attendant l '# Acte10 des # GiletsJaunes ce samedi, petit rappel de notre décompte de l' # Acte9: pic.twitter.com/xNG4kvIEd6
- Le Nombre Jaune (@LeNombreJaune) January 18, 2019Against this background, AFP journalists state that the gap between representatives of the “yellow vests” movement in France and the country's mainstream media continues to widen. In particular, many French publications and TV channels are sharply criticized by the protesters for distorting facts, censoring and labeling.
At the same time, more and more French people give their preference to RT France - because the TV channel covers events more objectively.
So, in early January, during the protests at the headquarters of one of the largest French TV channels, BFMTV, “yellow vests”, seeing a group of journalists from the video agency RT Ruptly at work, began chanting “Thank you, RT!”.
“When I talked to the“ yellow vests ”who had gathered for a rally in front of the BFMTV building, I was surprised to find out what they call RT among their media landmarks,” Celine Pigalle, the director of the BFMTV, quotes. “Thanks to this media movement, which is just one year old, it is gaining momentum, following, so to speak, the beaten track of these people.”
The French television channel LCI said that for the protesters, live broadcasts of RT France are “a guarantee of no censorship.”
“The strategy of the TV channel was justified. Its Internet traffic grew by 78%, the number of subscribers of the RT France Facebook page exceeded one million. The channel has a license for broadcasting from CSA and last week was “de facto legalized” by inviting the headquarters of the regulator to discuss coverage of protests with representatives of other news channels, ”noted LCI on the air.
Libération, one of the largest French newspapers, also writes about the growing popularity of RT.
“RT France’s audience has grown rapidly at the end of the year: for the period from November 17 to December 16, 22 million views were registered on its Facebook page
283% more than for the whole year, ”the publication’s statistics cites.
At the same time, RT appreciation for the work at mass rallies in France is expressed in various forms. Some representatives of the "yellow vests" readily talk about it on the air of the TV channel itself.
“When I work in the field, I’ll get my own microphone with the RT logo,“ yellow vests ”are going to greet me,” says RT France reporter Luc Leger.
One of the “yellow vests” even wished for a speedy recovery on the air Nadezh Abderazzak, a RT journalist who was injured during one of the protests (during the coverage of the situation in France, at least 13 employees suffered from rubber bullets, tear grenades and water cannons RT, including correspondents from RT France and the video agency Ruptly).
Note that even ordinary French people who have witnessed the events, give positive assessments of the work of RT on the Internet and social networks.
“RT, thank you ... We blame you for propaganda, but you just show things that we try to hide,” the commentary to one of RT France's YouTube videos says.
Meanwhile, according to viewers, the attempts of the French authorities to press on RT suggest that this particular TV channel offers an alternative to the mainstream media and more objective coverage of what is happening.
“Today no one else does his job except RT! And it is precisely to RT that the French power undermines the trust of the population, that says a lot ... Thank you, RT, ”another user thanked the TV channel.
Note that, among other things, RT contributed to the investigation of the "conspiracy theory", which several leading French media have been talking about in recent days. Its essence boils down to the fact that the former boxer Christoph Dettanzhe who attacked the police on January 5 allegedly was himself a “misguided” police officer.
According to Le Parisien, Dettanger on one of the published videos allegedly "in a friendly way" communicates with law enforcement officers. However, there was no clear sound track.
Clarify the situation helped movie video agency RT Ruptly. You can hear on the record that the man who attacked the policemen shouts: “Leave us alone, get out!” The video also shows that other demonstrators also demanded that the policemen retreated.
Against this background, protesters criticize the mainstream media, accusing them of colluding with the current government, spreading false information about “yellow vests” and editing reports, which puts the rally in a different light.
For example, France 3 TV channel distinguished itself by retouching one of the photos from the protest actions. A banner with the name of French President Emmanuel Macron was shown live, but the word “get out” was erased in the television picture.
La totalité des médias français appartient à une poignée de milliardaires.
Les journalistes de terrain font leur métier mais l'information est verrouillée et de déformée par les rédactions nationales aux ordres des puissance d'argent et du gouvernement.
“All French media are owned by a handful of billionaires. Field journalists do their job, but the information is blocked and distorted by the news departments ordered by the government and those in whose hands the money is, ”the Collectif Carton jaune Twitter account created by representatives of the“ yellow vests ”notes.
“For Mr. Druet, the only free media is Russia Today”
Meanwhile, representatives of the French authorities are looking for ways to influence RT, which are far from the natural media competition for the viewer. Thus, the official representative of the French government, Benjamin Grieve, in an interview with France 5, rebuked RT for the alleged publication of fake news.
“Russia Today is not journalists, but propagandists funded by a foreign state, namely Russia. I did not give them access to the Elysian Palace. I don’t hide it and tell this to other media, which I respect for referring to sources in their materials, ”the politician said on the TV channel on January 7, repeating the rhetoric of President Macron.
Later, on January 9, he also spoke out against RT, accusing the channel of “sympathy” for “yellow vests”. At the same time, he acknowledged that one of the leaders of the protest movement, Eric Drouet, highly appreciates the work of journalists on the TV channel.
“We know about the favorable attitude of some propaganda tools (I’m not saying that this is the media), such as Russia Today, in relation to the movement,” said Grivo. - For Mr. Druet, the only free media is Russia Today. I do not share this opinion. ”
At the same time, even the French media, which used the video channel's channel, noted the objective presentation of RT materials.
France Info radio station noted that the footage shot by RT France confirms the following facts: “Aggressive protesters did sometimes manage to steal police equipment. RT France, a French version of the Russian channel RT, shot a particularly cruel scene at the Arc de Triomphe. This record shows how one officer of the security forces let go of his shield, while he was mercilessly beaten by "yellow vests."
The factual Liberation project also used the recording made by the Ruptly video agency to confirm the news that police used tear gas against a disabled woman.
Many members of the "yellow vests" movement chose RT to view President Emmanuel Macron’s address to the nation on December 10. Then the participants of the demonstrations explained their choice by the fact that the channel objectively covered the events in the country in its news and analytical programs.
Also millions of views are gaining coverage of events in France on RT platforms in social networks and on YouTube.