Agence France-Presse (AFP)
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| Public company | |
| Industry | News media |
| Founded | 1944 |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Emmanuel Hoog (President and CEO) |
| Products | Wire service |
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Number of employees
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2,260 |
| Website | afp.com |
Agence France-Presse (AFP) is an international news agency headquartered in Paris, France.
Founded in 1944, AFP is the third largest news agency in the world, after the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters. Journalists of the French Resistance established the AFP in the headquarters of the former , a Vichy news agency, following the liberation of Paris.
Currently, the CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and the News Director is Michèle Léridon. AFP has regional offices in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong, and Washington, D.C., and bureaux in 150 countries. AFP transmits news in French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, and German.
The Agence Havas was founded in 1835 by a Parisian translator and advertising agent, Charles-Louis Havas as Agence Havas. Two of his employees, Paul Reuter and Bernhard Wolff, later set up rival news agencies in London and Berlin respectively, starting 1848. In order to reduce overhead and develop the lucrative advertising side of the business, Havas's sons, who had succeeded him in 1852, signed agreements with Reuter and Wolff, giving each news agency an exclusive reporting zone in different parts of Europe. This arrangement lasted until the 1930s, when the invention of short-wave wireless improved and cut communications costs. To help Havas extend the scope of its reporting at a time of great international tension, the French government financed up to 47% of its investments.
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