I dunno, Kathryn, whether or not The New York Times was “over the top”, but this report is from Agence France-Presse. As to the French media reporting “relative calm,” they have a long tradition of non-reporting and underplaying, whether it’s the question of presidential mistresses or Islamist murders. During the last big ”youth” frolic two years ago, Jean-Claude Dassier, director-general of the French news station LCI, told a broadcasters’ conference in Amsterdam why he was playing down the riots:

Politics in France is heading to the Right and I don’t want Right-wing politicians back in second or even first place because we showed burning cars on television.

Dan Rather doesn’t usually spell it out so plainly.