Agence France-Presse
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.
The agency is based in Paris, with regional centres in Washington, Hong Kong, Nicosia and Montevideo and bureaux 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.
External links
fr:Agence France-Presse no:Agence France-Presse pl:Agence France Presse zh:法新社