Agence France-Presse

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Charles Havas

Paris headquarters of AFP

Agence France-Presse (AFP) is the oldest news agency in the world. It is also the largest French agency and the third largest news agency in the world, behind the Associated Press and Reuters.

The agency is based in Paris, with regional centres in Washington, Hong Kong, Nicosia and Montevideo and bureaus in 110 countries. It sends out news in French, English, Arabic, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Russian.

AFP was founded in 1835 by Charles-Louis Havas as Agence Havas.

Status

AFP is a nonprofit autonomous public corporation chartered under a specific 1957 law, operating commercially and independently of the French government. It is administered by a CEO and a board comprising 15 members:

8 representatives of the French press;
2 representatives of the AFP personnel;
2 representatives of the public services of radio and television;
3 representatives from the public services subscribing to the agency (one named by the prime minister, another by the minister of finance, another by the minister of foreign affairs).

The board elects the CEO for a renewable term of three years.

AFP also has a superior council charged with ensuring that the agency operates according to its statutes, which mandate absolute independence and neutrality.

The primary client of AFP is the French government, which purchases subscriptions for its various services. In practice, those subscriptions are somewhat a subsidy to AFP. AFP statutes prohibit direct government subsidies.

Investments

Notable investments include:

AFX:

Established in 1990, AFX News is a wholly-owned AFP subsidiary. Headquartered in London, it also operates a network of bureaus across Europe and works with associate companies in North America and Asia. Its focus is on European coverage and it provides newsfeeds in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch.

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) is producing a German-language sports service.

External links

[AFP News]

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