Agence France-Presse facts for kids
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| Private organization with special status, operating under commercial rules | |
| Industry | News media |
| Founded | 1835 (as Havas) |
| Founder | Charles-Louis Havas (as Havas) |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Charles-Louis Havas, Jean Marin, Henri Pigeat, Pierre Louette, Emmanuel Hoog |
| Products | Text, photo, video, audio, and graphics |
| Revenue | €321.9 million (2022) 309.5 millions euros (2021) |
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Number of employees
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2 400 (2023) |
| Subsidiaries | Sport-Informations-Dienst |
Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency based in Paris, France. It started in 1835 as Havas, making it the oldest news agency in the world.
AFP has 2,400 employees from 100 different countries. It has offices in 260 cities across 151 countries. Its main offices are in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong, and Washington, D.C. AFP shares news stories, videos, photos, and graphics in French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, and German.
About two-thirds of its money comes from selling its news services. The French government provides the other one-third. This money helps AFP carry out its important public service mission.
Contents
The Story of AFP
Agence France-Presse began as the Agence Havas in 1835 in Paris. It was founded by Charles-Louis Havas. This made it the world's first news service. Havas was a pioneer in collecting and sharing news as a product. By the late 1800s, it had become a global company. Two employees of Havas, Paul Julius Reuter and Bernhard Wolff, later started their own news agencies in London and Berlin.
During World War II, German forces took over France in 1940. The news agency was then called "Office français d'information." On August 20, 1944, as Allied forces entered Paris, a group of journalists from the French Resistance took control of the office. They sent out the first news report from the freed city under the new name: Agence France-Presse.
After the war, AFP became a state-owned company. It worked hard to build its network of reporters around the world. One AFP journalist was the first Western reporter to announce the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1953.
AFP wanted to be more independent from the government. So, on January 10, 1957, the French Parliament passed a law to make it independent. Since then, the money AFP gets from government subscriptions has slowly decreased.
In 1982, AFP started to let its regional offices make more decisions. It opened its first regional center in Hong Kong. Each region now has its own budget and main editor. In 2007, the AFP Foundation was started to help improve journalism around the world.
In 1991, AFP partnered with Extel to create a financial news service called AFX News. This service was later sold in 2006.
In 2008, the French government talked about changing AFP's status. Some people worried this might mean the agency would become fully private. Many trade unions in France started an online petition against these plans.
In 2013, AFP and Getty Images were ordered to pay money to a photojournalist named Daniel Morel. They had used his photos from the 2010 Haiti earthquake without his permission. This was against copyright rules.
AFP's rules were updated in 2015 to match European laws. This changed how the French government helps fund AFP. Now, the government's money is split into two parts: one for AFP's public service work and one for regular subscriptions.
Today, Fabrice Fries is the CEO and chairman, and Phil Chetwynd is the Global News Director.
Talented Journalists
Many talented journalists have worked for AFP. Here are a few:
- Arman Soldin (1991–2023), a Franco-Bosnian video journalist, sadly died during a rocket attack in Ukraine.
- Massoud Hossaini (1981–), won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012.
- Javier Manzano (1975–), won a Pulitzer Prize in 2013.
- Shah Marai (1977–2018), an Afghan photojournalist, died during a bombing attack in Kabul.
- Paul Guihard (1932-1962), a French editor and journalist, died while covering the Ole Miss riot of 1962.
Awards and Recognition
AFP has received many awards for its excellent journalism:
- AFP was named "Best News Agency" in 2020 and 2021 by the AIB (Association of International Broadcasters).
- Two photographers won the Pulitzer Prize for an AFP photo: Massoud Hossaini and Javier Manzano.
- The World Press Photo of the Year has been given to AFP photographers three times: Hocine Zaourar (1998), Ronaldo Schemidt (2018), and Yasuyoshi Chiba (2020).
- The Albert Londres Prize, a major French journalism award, has been given to AFP journalists five times.
- Five AFP team members have won the Rory Peck Prize, which honors freelance journalists.
- AFP photographers have won the Visa d’Or (News category) four times. Sameer Al-Doumy won the Visa d’Or Humanitaire in 2022.
- AFP also received "Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards" for its photos and videos about climate.
AFP's Special Projects
AFP has several special projects to deliver news in different ways:
AFP Graphics
Since 1988, AFP has had a department that creates infographics. These are visual charts and images that explain news. Today, they make about 70 graphics daily. These graphics cover topics like politics, economics, sports, and society. They are available in six languages.
AFP Forum
In 2014, AFP launched AFP Forum, a platform for all its content. You can use it on computers, tablets, and phones. It has sections for text, photos, videos, and graphics. You can filter news by topic (like news, business, sports, science) or by region (like Africa, Europe). All information is available in six languages, plus Traditional and Simplified Chinese. About 1250 illustrated news items are added every day.
AFP Video Services
AFP started its video graphics division in 2001. By 2007, it launched AFPTV, a project that provides news in HD video format. As of 2015, 200 videos are added to the site daily in seven languages.
Mobile Services
In 2008, AFP launched Mobile services, a special platform for mobile phones. News is available in six languages and divided into 22 topics. These include world news, sports, business, and technology. You can also find news by country, city, or using hashtags.
How AFP Works
AFP operates under a 1957 law. This law says it must be a commercial business that is independent of the French government.
AFP is managed by a CEO and a board of 15 members:
- Eight members represent the French press.
- Two members represent AFP employees.
- Two members represent public radio and television.
- Three members represent the government.
The board chooses the CEO for a three-year term. AFP also has a council that makes sure the agency follows its rules. These rules say AFP must be completely independent and neutral. Senior journalists guide AFP's news coverage.
The French government is a main client of AFP. It buys subscriptions to AFP's services. This is a way for the government to support AFP without directly funding it. The agency's rules do not allow direct government funding.
Where AFP Works
AFP is based in Paris and covers 151 countries. It has 201 offices, 50 local reporters, and five main regional centers:
- Washington (North America)
- Hong Kong (Asia-Pacific)
- Montevideo (Latin America)
- Nicosia (Middle East)
- Paris (Europe and Africa)
AFP states it has 2,400 employees from 100 different countries, including 1,700 journalists. It provides news in six languages (French, English, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Arabic) all day, every day.
AFP's Other Businesses
AFP has some other notable investments:
- thAFP GmbH
- This is AFP's company in Germany. It creates German-language news services for local newspapers, websites, and businesses.
- SID
- Sport-Informations-Dienst (SID) creates a sports news service in German.
- Citizenside
- In 2007, AFP bought a part of Scooplive, an online agency for "citizen journalism" photos and videos. Scooplive was renamed Citizenside. AFP later sold its shares in Citizenside.
See Also
In Spanish: Agence France-Presse para niños
- List of news agencies
