•
2022 was dominated by the Russian
invasion of Ukraine. Covering a war is often
challenging. Did AFP manage to live up to
the challenge?
This type of global event stands at the very heart of our ge-
neral interest mission. It’s in our DNA. It’s where we show
our strength. We massively mobilised our global network,
with lots of goodwill, creative thinking, and with the
constant goal of supporting our staff on the ground. Eve-
rything was put in place very quickly, right from the start.
AFP’s Russian-speaking journalists threw themselves into
the task with great energy.
Everyone contributed in their own way to enrich the content
produced from Kyiv and Moscow by our journalists on the
ground. We should remember that it was Hong Kong who
raised the alarm at the start of the invasion. That shows
what a global event it was.
About two months before the invasion, the Global News Ma-
nagement met with the global chief editors and the Europe
chief editors to organise preparatory trips on the ground. It
is of course impossible to plan perfectly for such an event,
but we have made a lot of progress in terms of logistics and
how best to mobilise our staff Video has helped change
the culture of the Agency because by its nature it requires
much more advance preparation and organisation
We set up a large hub a kind of support base in Warsaw
Here we had staff working on logistical tasks like buying
train and plane tickets and booking hotel rooms This freed
up bureau chiefs to concentrate on editorial matters by ta
king logistical issues off their plate
The safety of our journalists on the ground is a priority For
the first time ever we hired security advisors to accompany
us in difficult areas reducing the level of risk for our teams
For a long time we have had more than 30 journalists re
porting from Ukraine at any one time In recent months we
have shored up the team by reducing the amount of mis
sions keeping special correspondents in place for longer
and strengthening our network of local stringers No one
knows how long this war will last But we have the stamina
to stay the course, while staying flexible depending on how
the situation on the ground evolves.
In 2022, has AFP done a better job of
reflecting changes in our society?
It’s a long road. We are improving every day and we need
to stay humble. These are processes we are gradually
putting in place because we have realised how much there
is to improve. Women’s rights, ethnic and religious mino-
rities, the issue of sexual identity… all these questions are
being debated and increasingly accepted. But we need to
go further and faster. For example, in 2022, we sped up
our hiring of people from a more diverse base, by offering
programmes in Paris, Asia and Africa. This is also why we
created Jessica Lopez’s position in the chief editor’s team
(see page 46). We are very active on these issues.
What did we do in 2022 to shore up our
credibility with the general public and
the media?
We continued what we have been doing for the past five
years Compared to most newsrooms in the world we
are wellequipped thanks to our Charter our sources our
network and our way of working We foresaw the dangers
posed by disinformation and we were right The results are
clear to see We have a better reputation among the gene
ral public Our slogan Facts Matter has proved its worth
In 2022 digital investigation has given even more credibi
lity to our production thanks to the integration of our fac
tchecking teams into newsrooms and the creation of a full
time disinformation reporter in Washington We consider
the issue of disinformation to be a top story for our wires
2022 has therefore been a year of great progress made in
the battle against the scourge of disinformation
How has AFP recovered from the pandemic
and is it prepared to deal with another
wave
PHIL CHETWYND
GLOBAL NEWS DIRECTOR
THE YEAR AS SEEN BY
INTERVIEW
"We made major progress in 2022 on structural reform, i.e. our
regional set-up, how desks, bureaus, and editors function."
.
.’.
,
,
.’
.’,
,.’-
.,,
-
.-
.
,
.
,-
.
--
.
,,
.
-
,,,
,,.-
-
..
?
.’-
/