France has found itself at the crossroads of unrest and reform this autumn, as waves of protests—spanning from city streets to rural farmlands—have highlighted deep divisions over the country’s future. Since early September 2025, at least six journalists have been injured while covering demonstrations against the 2026 national budget plan, according to the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR). At the same time, French farmers, grappling with mounting economic pressures and new trade deals, have taken to the streets in mass protests, expressing their anger at government policies they say threaten their way of life.
The recent spate of violence against journalists has sparked alarm among press freedom advocates. On September 18, a journalist from the public broadcaster France 2 was hospitalized in Lyon after being struck in the back by a projectile—believed to have been fired by police—while reporting on the ‘Bloquons tout’ (Block Everything) protests. The journalist suffered burns and tinnitus, and his shirt was torn by the impact. This incident is not isolated; Mapping Media Freedom (MapMF) has documented at least five other assaults on journalists by law enforcement earlier in the month.
On September 10, during the first day of a national strike in Montpellier, reporter Samuel Clauzier was assaulted by a police officer, who grabbed him by the neck and destroyed his camera. In Paris, four more journalists were assaulted while covering protests, with two sustaining injuries from tear gas, beatings, and shoving. Such events have become disturbingly familiar in France, a country with a fraught history of police violence targeting both journalists and demonstrators during periods of social upheaval.
The legal landscape for journalists covering protests has also come under scrutiny. In July 2025, the French Ministry of Interior quietly published the National Urban Violence Scheme (SNVU), a document intended as a practical guide for law enforcement. Unlike the National Law Enforcement Plan (SNMO) of 2020, which guaranteed legal protection for journalists at demonstrations, the SNVU initially excluded these protections in the context of ‘urban violence.’ The document stated, “the consideration of journalists’ status as enshrined in the national law enforcement plan does not apply.” Following a wave of criticism from journalists’ organizations, the Ministry withdrew this controversial language. Still, the episode left many wondering whether the government is truly committed to safeguarding press freedom during times of unrest.
The MFRR partners, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), and others, have called for an independent and swift investigation into the attacks on journalists. Their joint statement underscores the vital role that journalists play in documenting social movements and police actions, insisting that “journalists who document social movements and police actions do so in the public interest.” With another major day of mobilization planned for October 2, press freedom groups are demanding an end to police violence and clear, unequivocal protection for journalists—especially during clashes.
While the urban protests have captured headlines, rural France is simmering with its own brand of discontent. The country’s roughly 700,000 farmers have been locked in near-constant confrontation with President Emmanuel Macron’s administration. Their grievances are many: falling incomes, mounting debts, and what they see as an endless barrage of bureaucratic requirements imposed by Brussels. According to columnist Nabila Ramdani, these pressures have fueled a crisis in France, the European Union’s largest agricultural producer, leading to the closure of about 10,000 farms annually.
The spark for the latest wave of farmer protests is a series of trade deals, most notably the proposed agreement between the EU and the Mercosur bloc, which includes Brazil and Uruguay. This deal aims to create a massive free trade area encompassing more than 700 million consumers and eliminating over 90% of customs duties between Europe and South America. While such an agreement may make economic sense in an era of rising tariffs from the United States, French farmers are deeply skeptical. They fear that imported produce will be less safe and of lower quality than domestic products, undermining their livelihoods and national food standards.
The tension between tradition and modernization is palpable in rural France. There is a widespread sentiment—rooted in what many call La France Profonde, or ‘Deep France’—that those who work the land deserve special protection. This attitude was on full display during the summer of 2025, when farmers near Strasbourg illegally used tractors and crop sprayers to attack Roma caravaners. While the travelers were swiftly issued court orders to move on and pay for damages, the farmers were largely treated as local heroes, reflecting the enduring sanctity of the agricultural way of life in the national imagination.
Yet, as Ramdani points out, change is coming fast. The government’s push for environmental reforms—exemplified by the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015—has angered many in the farming community, who see new regulations as a threat to their survival. The scale and intensity of the protests became clear last year when tractor drivers threatened to block Rungis, Paris’s principal wholesale food market, with the chilling slogan “Let’s Starve Paris.” This pointed to a growing extremism within the sector, as frustration over economic and regulatory pressures mounted.
Populist politicians have not missed the opportunity to capitalize on this unrest. The far-right Rassemblement National (RN), led by Jordan Bardella, has made agricultural protectionism a central plank of its platform. Bardella has argued, “Our farmers must be competitive,” but not when “put in competition with products or sectors that do not respect any of our standards.” He has also railed against what he calls “punitive ecology,” criticizing the environmental standards adopted in France and Europe to restore biodiversity and reduce CO2 emissions. According to Ramdani, such rhetoric exploits anti-globalist sentiment and nostalgia for a bygone era when smallholdings and rural traditions defined French identity.
With major protests by agricultural unions scheduled for September 26, the clash between France’s rural and urban realities seems set to intensify. Farmers are determined to resist trade deals they believe threaten their livelihoods, while the government faces mounting pressure to balance economic modernization, environmental commitments, and social cohesion. Meanwhile, journalists covering these turbulent events continue to face unacceptable risks, raising urgent questions about the protection of fundamental rights in a democracy.
As France braces for another round of protests, the stakes could hardly be higher—for its farmers, its journalists, and the very fabric of its society.