1835

Agence Havas founded

Charles Havas creates Agence Havas as Agence des Feuilles Politiques.
As the world’s first international news agency, it uses a network of correspondents and translators. Trains and homing pigeons bring in the news to Paris from all over France and other European countries.

1835 - 1875

The first offices

From 1835 to 1875, the Agence Havas offices are located on rue
Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Paris,
opposite the General Post Office.

1840

Mail coach

A mail coach transports dispatches.

1840

Carrier pigeons

Charles Havas uses carrier pigeons to deliver the news faster than the official State services.

1845

Telegraph first used

The Agency starts to use electrical telegraphs, an invention which enables it to expand.
Soon it is better and faster informed of what is going on in the world.
In response to the Crimean war (1854-1856) it extends its European network all the way to Saint Petersburg and the Bosphorus.

1853

Succession

Charles-Guillaume and Auguste Havas take over the Agency’s management from their father.

1859

Reuter-Wolff-Havas agreement

An agreement between the three
major agencies - Reuter, based in London, Wolff in Berlin, and Havas – divides the world between them for the collection and dissemination of
information.

1866

The first transatlantic cable connects Europe to the American continent

The first telegraphic cable between the west coast of the United States and the Philippines is inaugurated in 1903.

1880

New means of communication

The telephone, teletype and the long-wave radio come into use and revolutionize the way in which
journalists work. The amount of news increases dramatically thanks to these new means of transmission and the development of the press in France.

1896

The Agency moves to Place de la Bourse, Paris

1930

Technological advances

Shortwave wireless transmission profoundly changes the way in which international news can be passed on and brings the alliance of agencies to an end.

25 November 1940

Havas/O.F.I.

The News section of Havas is
nationalised and becomes a government agency. Two laws establish the
separation between the Advertising branch – which retains the name Havas - and the News branch – which becomes state property under the name French Information Office (OFI).

01 December 1940

Agence Française Indépendante (AFI) founded in London by Paul-Louis Bret

Paul-Louis Bret considers that AFI can represent what remains of free French public opinion, with the capacity to criticise the Vichy regime. The AFI reaches an agreement with the British Ministry of Information and Reuters to broadcast a daily French language service of around 10,000 words across free Europe.

20 August 1944

The birth of AFP

Liberated France’s first dispatch is
issued on August 20, 1944.
OFI is renamed Agence France-Presse.

01 October 1944

The new photo service uses the Belinograph

The AFP photo service is created in 1944 by freelance photographers Georges Mélamed, André Raimbaud and Robert Palat, who cover the Liberation of Paris.

The Belinograph, invented in 1907 by Edouard Belin, transmits images by telephone and radio links.

1950

Change at AFP headquarters

1952

Telex

Invented in Germany in the 1930s, the telex arrives in France in 1946. It is used to send information and teletype messages.

05 March 1953

Stalin's death: the first scoop

The death of Joseph Stalin, on March 5, 1953, brings AFP a global scoop that will leave its mark on the fledgling Agency’s history. At the time, foreign journalists in Moscow are unable to instantly transmit news in real time because of the regime’s censorship. AFP, however, was constantly
monitoring Radio Moscow’s domestic broadcasts from Paris.

1954 - 1975

Jean Marin

Jean Marin is appointed CEO. After the vote of the Agence France-Presse Statute in January 1957, he is re-elected every three years and
remained president and CEO until 1975.

1957

An international news agency

AFP has 25 bureaus across France, 46 overseas, and 13 in French overseas territories. It has correspondents in 116 countries and provides news in 73 countries.

10 January 1957

The AFP Statute

The French Parliament adopts the AFP Statute, guaranteeing its editorial independence, global presence and
financial autonomy. The CEO is now elected by a Board of Directors.

1969

Launch of the Arabic service

Discover AFP’s Arabic site

1971

Satellites

AFP effects its first satellite news transmission.

06 September 1972

Munich Olympics

AFP announces the death of the Israeli hostages one hour before all others.

1973

Headquarters transformed

01 November 1975

IT enters AFP bureaus

1975

Claude Roussel elected AFP president & CEO

1978

Roger Bouzinac elected AFP president & CEO

1979

Henri Pigeat elected AFP president & CEO

1981

Real time data delivery

Sytin (Système de transmission d'images numérisées) transmits digital images over ordinary analog telephone lines and teleprints photos in real time. This system has no equal anywhere in the world. However, it is only as fast as the analog network on which it depends.

16 May 1983

AFP journalist Patrick Meney wins the Albert Londres Prize

Patrick Meney, AFP journalist for the Moscow bureau, obtains an award for his series of articles about Soviet
Russia.

01 October 1983

AFP-Audio

AFP provides news summaries, musical programmes and voice reports to local radio stations, which have just been authorised in France.

1984

Laser and digital printing

First laser printing of black and white photos. From 1986, printing became digital.

1985

Launch of the international photo department

AFP Photo Services

1985

Increase in news production volume

Computerisation and satellites increase volume of news transmitted - 1 million words a day compared to 600,000 in 1975.

08 July 1986

Polycom Satellite

The Polycom subsidiary is created and a satellite distribution network set up to supply clients.

1986

Impact: first photo editorial system

The system uses an analogue signal, and the client must have a digital receiver to get photos on their screen. The computer operating system is provided by AFP.

03 March 1986

Telematics

AFP begins publishing content on the Minitel.

30 December 1987

Opening of the regional centre in Nicosia (Arabic desk)

The Arabic desk, previously based in Cairo, is transferred to Nicosia.

1987

Jean-Louis Guillaud elected AFP president & CEO

27 September 1988

Seoul Olympics

AFP announces the disqualification of Ben Johnson at the Seoul Olympics two hours before all others.

01 October 1988

Launch of the Infographics service

AFP Infographics services

1988

Dixel

First use of a portable photo scanner for the digital transmission of captioned images. The Dixel replaces the Belinograph. The photographer no longer has to transport a complete darkroom weighing 50 kg to print photos on paper - necessary for transmission by Belinograph. The Dixel is one of the first 35mm scanners that can be carried in a small box. That year AFP beats all its competitors in photo distribution.

1988

AFP journalist Sammy Ketz wins the Albert Londres Prize

Sammy Ketz shares the Albert
Londres Prize with Libération
colleague Sorj Chalandon for his
coverage of the 6-year civil war in
Lebanon.

1988

Satellite transmission from the field

AFP journalists can transmit their production from the field via Inmarsat. This 40 kg piece of equipment is very useful when there are no telecommunications links, particularly in war zones.

26 January 1990

Claude Moisy elected AFP president & CEO

1992

Photos delivered by satellite

The use of digital files improves photo quality and speed of transmission.

01 February 1993

Lionel Fleury elected AFP president & CEO

1993

The AFP goes fully digital

01 April 1995

Launch of AFP-Direct, a customized broadcast solution for AFP text services

A first: AFP-Direct makes it possible to customize the broadcast of stories produced by the AFP's text services.

01 December 1995

Launch of the first AFP website

1995

The AFP Moscow bureau is awarded the Albert Londres Prize

The Agence France Presse Moscow bureau team is awarded the Albert Londres Prize for its coverage of the war in Chechnya.

03 February 1996

Jean Miot elected AFP president & CEO

01 July 1996

AFP's first multimedia Internet Journal in French

Find out more about the multimedia Internet Journal

1996

Symphonia

Launch of the Symphonia photo editing system, which collects, edits, indexes, archives and transmits photos. The editing and transmission processes become entirely digital.

01 December 1997

Opening of the Spanish-language regional centre in Montevideo

1997

ImageForum

Launch of a new online photo platform aimed at the press, Internet sites and corporate clients. ImageForum provides its subscribers with real time access to AFP’s full photo production and archives.

26 May 1999

Michel Moutot wins the Albert Londres Prize

Michel Moutot, an AFP journalist since 1985, receives the Albert
Londres prize for his reporting of the Kosovo conflict throughout 1998.

1999

Eric Giuily elected AFP president & CEO

01 July 2000

Launch of animated infographics

AFP Infographics services

2000

Bertrand Eveno elected AFP president & CEO

Re-elected as AFP chairman on October 24, 2003.

2000

Bertrand Eveno elected AFP president & CEO

Re-elected as AFP chairman on October 24, 2003.

01 July 2000

Launch of animated infographics

AFP Infographics services

10 January 2001

Success of the book "L'Agence"

A work of reference illustrating the photography service's expansion.

Find out more about AFP publications

01 July 2001

Launch of a web video production service

AFP Video services

2005

Pierre Louette elected AFP president & CEO

Re-elected as AFP chairman on October 12, 2008.

2005

PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)

AFP transmits photos via PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), predecessor of the Smartphone

2006

XML format: first multimedia editorial system

The multimedia editorial system uses the XML format which optimises management of subscriptions and clients.

2007

Launch of AFPTV International and of the video platform

2008

Mobile services

Development of a range of services dedicated to mobile telephony providers.

Mobile services

15 April 2010

Emmanuel Hoog elected AFP president & CEO

Re-elected as AFP chairman on April 4, 2013.

2010

Facebook

Launch of the official AFP Facebook page in French and English.

Check out AFP’s Facebook page

11 September 2010

AFP expands its headquarters

Editorial services move into their new headquarters on rue Vivienne, in Paris’ 2nd arrondissement

14 May 2011

AFP journalist Emmanuel Duparcq wins the Albert Londres Prize

Emmanuel Duparcq, AFP reporter at the Islamabad bureau, is rewarded for his series of articles on Afghanistan and Pakistan covering 2010/2011.

06 December 2011

AFP launches two official Twitter accounts

Discover AFP news, behind-the-scenes info and retweets on Twitter.

2011

Videographics

The first videographics: animated films with spoken commentaries.

First 3D videographics.

2011

For the first time, the international market generates more revenues than the domestic market

01 November 2011

HD video

AFP is the first news agency to provide high-definition video content.

Find out more about AFPTV

13 January 2012

World Press Photo 2012: three AFP photographers rewarded

- Yasuyoshi Chiba - first prize in the "People in the news" category,

- Massoud Hossaini - second prize in the "Spot News" category,

- Pedro Pardo - third prize in the "Contemporary Issues" category

Find out more

17 April 2012

Pulitzer Prize

AFP photographer Massoud Hossaini is rewarded with one of America’s most prestigious journalism awards, recognizing his picture of a girl in tears after a suicide bombing in Kabul in December 2011.

Find out more

18 April 2012

On the Web

Launch of the new site at www.afp.com/en

01 May 2012

AFP live video

For the first time, AFPTV is broadcasting live video from the 66th Cannes Film Festival.

01 July 2012

IRIS

Iris is the new production and distribution system from AFP. Iris aims to assist our clients in facing the challenges of the digital age.

01 October 2012

Bayeux-Calvados Prize: Aris Messinis rewarded

The jury of the 19th Bayeux-Calvados War Correspondents Prize rewards AFP photojournalist Aris Messinis.

01 November 2012

3D

All Videographics production are in 3D.

06 December 2012

Copyright royalties at AFP

A historic achievement for all
journalists.

06 April 2013

Pulitzer Prize

Javier Manzano, a freelance
photographer working for Agence France-Presse, won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography on
Monday April 15 for a photograph of two Syrian rebels guarding their
position in the embattled city of Aleppo.

Find out more

03 December 2013

Time Magazine chooses Philippe Lopez’s image as one of its top ten

Time chooses an image taken by Philippe Lopez on November 18, 2013 as one of its top ten photos of the year.

2013

The 2013 Annual

Key events in 2012 illustrated by AFP photographers.

14 February 2014

Two AFP photographers receive World Press Photo awards

Photojournalists Philippe Lopez and Jeff Pachoud win first prize in the categories "spot news single" and "sport feature single" in the international photo competition.

01 April 2014

AFP Forum

AFP launches its new multimedia platform, AFP Forum: the entire news production in text, photo, video and infographics available on one site and in 6 languages.

01 May 2014

AFP launches its Instagram account

AFP increases its social network presence with the creation of its Instagram account featuring the work of its photographers.

Instagram AFP

17 October 2014

AFP global news director Michèle Léridon receives the "Investigation and Reporting" prize at the International Congress for Journalism and Information

The student jury of the 8th International Congress for Journalism and Information awarded the prize to global news director Michèle Léridon for her article "Covering the Islamic State" which was published on AFP’s Correspondent blog.

Correspondent Blog

11 October 2014

AFP photographer wins the Bayeux-Calvados war correspondents photo prize

The jury of the 21st Bayeux-Calvados awards for war correspondents gives Mohammed Al-Shaikh first prize in the professional photo category. Bulent Kilic finishes third.

01 December 2014

Photojournalist Bulent Kilic recognised by Time Magazine and The Guardian

Time Magazine chooses AFP’s Bulent Kilic as its news agency photographer of the year for his coverage of the Middle East and Europe. The Guardian names him its 2014 agency photographer of the year.

2014

The 2014 Annual

AFP photo book capturing the top news events of 2013

2015

The 2015 Annual

AFP’s photo book capturing the best news images of 2014