Agence France-Presse

Agence France-Presse, commonly known as AFP, is a major French international news agency headquartered in Paris and one of the largest and most influential news organizations in the world. Its origins date back to the nineteenth century, when it was founded as Havas, regarded as the world's oldest news agency, before being reorganized and relaunched under its current name in the aftermath of the Second World War. AFP's mission is to provide fast, comprehensive, impartial and verified coverage of events around the globe, gathering, checking and distributing news in a neutral, factual form across multiple formats including text, photography, video, audio and infographics. Its reporting serves a wide range of clients, including newspapers, television and radio broadcasters, websites, and major companies and public institutions that rely on its information and alerts.

The agency operates one of the most extensive networks of correspondents in the world, with 2,600 employees of 100 nationalities spread across 210 locations globally. Major regional hubs include Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and Nicosia, Cyprus. AFP delivers news in six languages: French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic. Its key products include AFP News, AFPTV Live, AFP Video (a library of over 1 million videos), AFP Photo, and AFP Corporate. The agency also operates a significant fact-checking division.

AFP is largely controlled by the French government and operates under a special statute that precludes private investors, a unique structure among the top three global news agencies. This status guarantees its independence from commercial or political influence but restricts its ability to raise capital compared to publicly traded rivals like Reuters and the Associated Press. In 2022, AFP reported revenue of €321.9 million, up from €309.5 million in 2021, with client subscriptions as its main funding source, supplemented by public funding for its general interest mission. [edit]