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Agence France-Presse

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Agence France-Presse
Company typePrivate organization with special status, operating under commercial rules
IndustryNews media
Founded1835; 189 years ago (1835)
(as Havas)
FounderCharles-Louis Havas (as Havas)
HeadquartersParis, France
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Charles-Louis Havas, Jean Marin, Henri Pigeat, Pierre Louette, Emmanuel Hoog
ProductsText, photo, video, audio, and graphics
Revenue€321.9 million (2022) 309.5 million euros (2021)
Number of employees
2 400 (2023)
SubsidiariesSport-Informations-Dienst
Websitewww.afp.com Edit this at Wikidata

Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.

With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 cities across 150 countries.[1] Its main regional headquarters are based in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C. AFP publishes stories, videos, photos and graphics in French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, and German. Two-thirds of its turnover comes from its own commercial activities, with the remaining one-third being provided by the French government (amounting to 113.3 million euros in 2022) as compensation for carrying out its mission of general interest.[2]

History

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Agence France-Presse has its origins in the Agence Havas, founded in 1835 in Paris by Charles-Louis Havas, making it the world's oldest news service.[3][4] The agency pioneered the collection and dissemination of news as a commodity,[3] and had established itself as a fully global concern by the late 19th century.[5] Two Havas employees, Paul Julius Reuter and Bernhard Wolff, set up their own news agencies in London and Berlin respectively.[3]

In 1940, when German forces occupied France during World War II, the news agency was taken over by the authorities and renamed "Office français d'information" (French Information Office); only the private advertising company retained the name Havas.[6] On 20 August 1944, as Allied forces moved on Paris, a group of journalists in the French Resistance seized the offices of the FIO and issued the first news dispatch from the liberated city under the name of Agence France-Presse.

Established as a state enterprise, AFP devoted the post-war years to developing its network of international correspondents. One of them was the first Western journalist to report the death of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin on 6 March 1953.[7] AFP was keen to shake off its semi-official status, and on 10 January 1957, the French Parliament passed a law establishing its independence. Since that date, the proportion of the agency's revenues generated by subscriptions from government departments has steadily declined. Such subscriptions represented 115 million euros in 2011.[8]

In 1982, the agency began to decentralize its editorial decision-making by setting up the first of its five autonomous regional centres, in Hong Kong, then a British dependent territory. Each region has its own budget, administrative director and chief editor. In September 2007, the AFP Foundation was launched to promote higher standards of journalism worldwide.

The Mitrokhin Archive identified six agents and two confidential KGB contacts inside Agence France-Presse who were used in Soviet operations in France.[9]

In 1991, AFP set up a joint venture with Extel to create a financial news service, AFX News.[10] It was sold in 2006 to Thomson Financial.[11]

In October 2008, the Government of France announced moves to change AFP's status, including the involvement of outside investors. On 27 November of that year, the main trade unions represented in the company's home base of France – the CGT, Force Ouvrière, Syndicat national des journalistes,[12] Union syndicale des journalistes CFDT[13] and SUD, launched an online petition to oppose what they saw as an attempt to privatise the agency.

On 10 December 2009, the French Culture Minister Frédéric Mitterrand announced that he was setting up a Committee of Experts under former AFP CEO Henri Pigeat to study plans for the agency's future status.[14] On February 24, 2010, Pierre Louette unexpectedly announced his intention to resign as CEO by the end of March, and move to a job with France Télécom.

In November 2013, AFP and Getty Images were ordered to pay $1.2 million compensation to freelance photojournalist Daniel Morel for using his images posted on Twitter related to the 2010 Haiti earthquake without his permission, in violation of copyright and Twitter's terms of service.[15][16]

AFP's statute was changed in 2015 to bring it into line with European legislation through Law No. 2015-433 of 17 April 2015.[17] The State's financing of AFP was thus modified and was structured into two components:

  • Financial compensation for the Agency's missions of general interest
  • Commercial subscriptions from the State

The current CEO and chairman is Fabrice Fries and the Global News Director is Phil Chetwynd.[18]

AFP returned to profitability in 2019 for the first time since 2013 and has consistently posted positive net results every year since. In 2023, the net profit reached 1.1 million euros. The debt, which stood at 50.2 million euros at the beginning of 2017, was reduced to 26.9 million euros by the end of 2023.[19]

Notable journalists

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  • Christina Assi (1995–), a Lebanese photojournalist who was seriously injured by an Israeli strike on 13 October 2023 while covering the Israel-Hamas conflict from the southern Lebanon border, according to an investigation by RSF.[20] On 21 July 2024, Assi carried the Olympic torch in Vincennes, France, alongside her colleague, AFP videographer Dylan Collins.[21] Assi stated that she did so to “pay tribute to those who have fallen” while working as journalists.[22]  
  • Paul Guihard (1932–1962), French editor and journalist based in New York, New York. Guihard was killed in the Ole Miss riot of 1962 by a bullet in the back while covering the backlash from James Meredith's attempted enrollment at the University of Mississippi. Guihard's murder remains unsolved.[23]
  • Massoud Hossaini (1981–), 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner[24]
  • Javier Manzano (1975–), 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner[25]
  • Shah Marai (1977–2018), Afghan photojournalist based in Kabul, killed during a bombing attack[26]
  • Arman Soldin (1991–2023), Franco-Bosnia video journalist, killed during a rocket strike in Ukraine[27]

Distinctions

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AFP was voted "Best News Agency" in 2021 and 2020 by the AIB (Association of International Broadcasters).

Two photographers won the Pulitzer Prize for an AFP photo: Massoud Hossaini for his photo of a young girl in tears after a suicide bombing in Kaboul (1st place in the category Breaking News), and Javier Manzano in 2013 for his photo of two Syrian rebel soldiers in a room lit by rays of sunlight shining through bullet holes in the wall (1st place in the category Photo Magazine).

The World Press photo of the year has been awarded on three occasions to AFP photographers: Hocine Zaourar in 1998 for his photo of a woman in tears in front of a hospital in Algiers, Ronaldo Schemidt in 2018 for his photo of a man running while on fire during a series of riots in Caracas, and Yasuyoshi Chiba in 2020 for his photo of young protesters in Khartoum.

The Albert Londres Prize has been awarded to AFP journalists on five occasions: Patrick Meney in 1983, Sammy Ketz in 1988, AFP's Moscow office in 1995, Michel Moutot in 1999, and Emmanuel Duparcq in 2011.

Five AFP collaborators have won the Rory Peck Prize: Pacôme Pabandji in 2014, Zein Al-Rifai in 2015, Will Vassilopoulos in 2016, Luis Sequeira in 2019, and Solan Kolli in 2021.

The Visa d’Or (in the category News) has been awarded on four occasions to AFP photographers (Georges Gobet in 2003, Bülent Kilic in 2015, Aris Messinis in 2016, Guillermo Arias in 2019), as well as Sameer Al-Doumy who won the Visa d’Or Humanitaire in 2022.

Furthermore, AFP was distinguished by the "Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards" in 2021 for photos taken by Josh Edelson and in 2022 (in the category "Video – Short Feature").

Prizes and awards

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In 1983, the Albert Londres Prize was awarded to Patrick Meney,[28] who wrote a series of articles about 600 French people forcibly detained in the Gulag after World War II. In 1984, his book Les Mains coupées de la Taïga was published.

In 1988, Sammy Ketz received the next Albert Londres Prize.[28] Together with his colleague from the liberation movement, Serge Chalandon, he covered the events of the Libyan Civil War for six years.

On 17 October 2014 AFP international director Michèle Léridon received the Investigation and Reporting Award at the International Congress of Journalism and Information. Michèle Léridon sat the author of the article "Covering ISIS", which was posted on the agency's blog.

In December 2014, Bülent Kiliç was named Time magazine Photojournalist of the Year for his coverage of events in the Middle East and Europe.[29] The photographer received the same acknowledgement from The Guardian newspaper.[30]

AFP projects

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AFP Graphics

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In 1988, the agency has its own department of infographics – AFP Graphics, which today creates about 70 graphics per day. According to the information provided by the agency's website, thematically infographics have the following distribution: 31% – politics, 27% – economics, 18% – sports, 12% – society, 10% – general news, 2% – culture and media. Infographics are available in 6 languages: French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish and German.

AFP Forum

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In 2014, AFP launches a content platform that is available on all electronic media: computers, tablets and mobile phones. AFP Forum is divided into several sections, including homepage, text materials, photos, videos and graphics. News can be filtered by headings (news, business, sports, science), hashtags and by geographical regions (Africa, North America, Europe, etc.). All information is available in 6 languages: French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Traditional and Simplified Chinese. In total, there are about 1250 illustrated materials per day, available in XML, HTML, TXT, NewsML or WML formats.

AFP Video services

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In July 2001, the agency announced the launch of AFP Video services, a video graphics division. Already in 2007, the agency launches AFPTV – a project in which all news from 2011 appear in HD video format. As of 2015, 200 videos in 7 languages appear on the site every day.

On 10 June 2024, AFP announced the appointment of Mehdi Lebouachera as its new Global Editor-in-Chief, effective November 2024.[31] Lebouachera succeeds Sophie Huet, who held the position since 2019 and is set to transition to a new role overseeing AFP’s artificial intelligence strategy.[32]

Lebouachera previously worked as an AFP video journalist in Central America and Mexico before becoming the Video Editor-in-Chief for Latin America in Montevideo. He was later appointed Global Video Editor-in-Chief in Paris and, in September 2021, assumed the role of Editor-in-Chief for the Asia-Pacific region. He has also worked in Nicosia, Jerusalem, Gaza and Baghdad.[33]

Mobile services

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In 2008, Mobile services appeared – a separate digital platform for mobile phones. News in Mobile services is available in 6 languages (French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, German) and is divided into 22 thematic blocks: world news, world sports, football, top pages, Middle East, US news, Asia and Pacific news region, photos, videos, UK news, Africa, business, sports in the US, South African news, science, cricket, US politics, culture, Canada, lifestyle, technology and media, more. In addition to the section by headings, the news is divided into 100 categories (crime, energy, military conflicts, human rights, etc.), 43 countries, 70 cities and 100 hashtags. There is also a general search.

Statutes

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AFP operates under a 1957 law as a commercial business independent of the French government. AFP is administered by a CEO and a board comprising 15 members:

The mission of AFP is defined in its statute:[34]

  • Agence France-Presse may under no circumstances take account of influences or considerations liable to compromise the exactitude or the objectivity of the information it provides; it may under no circumstances fall under the control, either de facto or de jure, of any ideological, political or economic grouping;
  • Agence France-Presse must, to the full extent that its resources permit, develop and enhance its organisation so as to provide French and foreign users with exact, impartial and trustworthy information on a regular and uninterrupted basis;
  • Agence France-Presse must, to the full extent that its resources permit, ensure the existence of a network of facilities giving it the status of a worldwide information service.

The board elects the CEO for a renewable term of three years. AFP also has a council charged with ensuring that the agency operates according to its statutes, which mandate absolute independence and neutrality. Editorially, AFP is governed by a network of senior journalists.

Number of employees

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Based in Paris, AFP covers 151 countries, with 201 offices, 50 local correspondents and five regional centres:

Washington (North America) Hong Kong (Asia-Pacific) Montevideo (Latin America) Nicosia (Middle East) Paris (Europe and Africa)

AFP says it employs 2,400 people of 100 nationalities, including 1,700 journalists. It provides information in six languages (French, English, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Arabic), twenty-four hours a day.[35]

Investments

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Notable investments include:

  • AFP GmbH
    AFP GmbH is the subsidiary of AFP in Germany, producing German-language services for local press, internet and corporate clients.
  • SID
    Sport-Informations-Dienst (SID) a German-language sports service.
  • Citizenside
    In 2007, AFP purchased a 34% stake in Scooplive, a citizen news photo and video agency online. Established in France in 2006, Scooplive was renamed Citizenside after this investment, but AFP soon sold its shares to news aggregator Newzulu.[36]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About us – AFP". www.afp.com. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  2. ^ "AFP's 2022 results: 5% growth in commercial revenues, new tensions on costs". LEFIGARO (in French). 20 April 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Toal, Gerard (2014). Thrift, Nigel; Tickell, Adam; Woolgar, Steve; Rupp, William H. (eds.). Globalization in Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-0199212620.
  4. ^ James F. Broderick; Darren W. Miller (2007). Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web. Information Today, Inc. pp. 1. ISBN 978-0-910965-77-4.
  5. ^ Kuhn, Raymond (1 March 2011). The Media In Contemporary France. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. p. 3. ISBN 978-0335236220.
  6. ^ Palmer, M. B. (1976). "L'Office Français d'Information (1940-1944)". Revue d'Histoire de la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale (in French). 26 (101): 19–40. JSTOR 25728734.
  7. ^ "'Stalin is dead': the story behind the scoop". AFP Correspondent. 3 March 2023.
  8. ^ "N° 3806 tome VII – Avis de M. Michel Françaix sur le projet de loi de finances pour 2012 (n°3775)" (in French). National Assembly. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  9. ^ Andrew, Christopher, Vasili Mitrokhin (2000). The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-00312-5. p. 169-171
  10. ^ AFP and Financial Wires Encroach on Original Market : Reuters News: Clients Defect. By Erik Ipsen, Published: February 13, 1992 Ipsen, Erik (13 February 1992). "nytimes.com". The New York Times.
  11. ^ Pickering, Bobby (10 July 2006). "Thomson Financial acquires AFX". Information World Review. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012.
  12. ^ "Bienvenue sur le site du SNJ". Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  13. ^ "Actualités". Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  14. ^ "December 2009: Government Sets up Committee to Study Agency's Future". Archived from the original on 16 January 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  15. ^ Ax, Joseph (22 November 2013). "Photographer wins $1.2 million from companies that took pictures off Twitter". Reuters. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  16. ^ Laurent, Olivier (24 November 2013). "Getty Images disappointed at $1.2m Morel verdict". British Journal of Photography. Incisive Media. Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  17. ^ Légifrance (18 April 2015). "Loi n° 2015-433 du 17 avril 2015 portant diverses dispositions tendant à la modernisation du secteur de la presse". Retrieved 16 March 2017..
  18. ^ Agence France-Presse (17 January 2012). "AFP management".
  19. ^ Le Figaro. "L'AFP dégage un bénéfice pour la cinquième année consécutive". Le Figaro.
  20. ^ "RSF Investigation".
  21. ^ "Lebanese journalist wounded in Israeli strike carries Olympic torch". Al Jazeera. 21 July 2024. Archived from the original on 31 July 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  22. ^ "AFP photographer Christina Assi to carry Olympic Flame to pay tribute to journalists killed on duty".
  23. ^ "Paul L. Guihard". Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  25. ^ "Javier Manzano of Agence France-Presse". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  26. ^ "Shah Marai". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  27. ^ Regan, Helen (10 May 2023). "'Brave and tenacious' AFP journalist Arman Soldin killed in rocket fire in eastern Ukraine". CNN. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  28. ^ a b "Les lauréats". www.scam.fr. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  29. ^ "Photos: TIME Picks Bulent Killic as the Best Wire Photographer of 2014 | Time". 22 December 2014.
  30. ^ "Photographer of the year 2014: Bulent Kilic – in pictures | Art and design". The Guardian. 29 December 2014.
  31. ^ "AFP appoints new editor-in-chief as Sophie Huet moves to AI strategy role".
  32. ^ "AFP appoints new editor-in-chief as Sophie Huet moves to AI strategy role".
  33. ^ "AFP appoints new editor-in-chief as Sophie Huet moves to AI strategy role".
  34. ^ "Full Text of AFP's Statutes in English". Agence France-Presse. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  35. ^ Agence France-Presse (2020). "L'AFP en chiffres". Archived from the original on 1 January 2020.
  36. ^ Aubert, Aurélie; Nicey, Jérémie (2017). Allan, Stuart (ed.). Photojournalism and Citizen Journalism: Co-operation, Collaboration and Connectivity. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis. p. 238. ISBN 978-1351813457.
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