What role do the media play in La Haine?

The media play a key part in La Haine, they are used to show how the people living in the projects are viewed by the general french public.
We start the media scene with a slow tracking shot framing our trio of characters in a way which reflects their relationships. Said is the buffer between Vinz and Hubert and clearly respects both men. However, Vinz and Hubert view Said as the joker of the group and thus do not show him as much respect. We then see a quick dissolve which shows the characters sitting in the exact same spot. This tells us that they have nothing better to do than sit around all day doing nothing. After they sit around for a while a news van drives past them and then reverses back to where they are. This is important as it shows us that the news reporters are looking for something in particular. The first thing the news woman assumes is that the trio where involved in the riots. This tells us that she automatically assumes that the trio are violent thugs, just because of where they live.
While she is asking the trio questions, we see that her co-worker is filming them with a camera. This is important as the only part of the scene that is filmed by that camera is Vinz shouting at the reporter, this shot is also zoomed in to give the appearance that Vinz is approaching them. The trio are filmed from a high angle from the TV camera. This is the POV of the media in the film. This is also the same POV that the French television audience will see. This creates and reinforces negative stereotypes, which we see the consequences played out in the art gallery scene. The mise-en-scene of the area that they are filmed in is very dismal, they are in an unused children's park smoking cannabis. This shows not only how the characters view their surroundings but how they're surroundings are viewed by everyone else. They are surrounded by fence and it even slightly resembles an animal enclosure, complete with a giant plastic hippo. This shows us that they are not viewed as human by the media or outsiders.