The narrative battle over France’s unrest

Student protests, police violence and French media obsessed with 'barbarians'. What began as protests over education has rapidly taken over the streets of France and turned into one of the country’s biggest waves of unrest in years. Many mainstream media outlets have focused their coverage on the violence and looting rather than on the demands of the demonstrators. A lot of airtime has fixated on who the protesters are and what they look like, often using racist terms. That narrative has been picked up by right-wing movements abroad.