How significant is the 'News Crew' scene to our understanding of the messages and values of La Haine

The news crew scene in La Haine is key in illustrating how the media see the projects and the people of France see the projects through the media.

The scene starts with said, Vinz and Hubert all sitting in a playground in silence and then jump cuts to them having a nonsense conversation. This is in the film to show that a long time has passed between the two moments, which tells us that they have nothing better to do because there are no jobs or schools for them to go to.

The mise-en-scene of the scene is also similar to that off a zoo as when the car with media people pulls up they are immediately looking down on Said Vinz and Hubert, who are stood in almost a pit and are being literally looked down on, which is how the people in the media see the people from the projects, as animals and not people. This is also how French people will see them as they see them through the eyes of the media, which will reinforce the negative stereotype that surrounds the projects therefore demonizing the people who live there and provoking them to react the way Vinz did to the media. Immediately the media woman assumes they were involved in the riots, which reinforces the idea that if you are not white and French then you are automatically a suspect.