Three things to know about AFP, born on August 20, 1944

A few days before the liberation of Paris, a group of resistance fighters created AFP, Agence France Presse.

A birth in the battles of the liberation of Paris. On August 20, 1944, a group of eight journalists invested the premises of the French Information Office, Place de la Bourse, where the headquarters of the AFP is located today. 80 years later, this international press agency has become a must in the French media.

1 A commando of eight journalists and two police officers

The heat is heavy and the streets are empty on August 20, 1940. A small commando, composed of eight resistance journalists and two peacekeepers (the only ones to be armed), is sent by the Paris Liberation Committee to 13, Place de la Bourse. They sneak into the building that houses the French Information Office (OFI).

The OFI was created by the Vichy regime in 1940 and took over from the very first French press agency which was private and called Havas. It “had become an agency of German propaganda”recalls Gilles Martinet, one of the eight resistance journalists. The group he is part of is mainly made up of former Havas editors: Claude Martial-Bourgeon, Pierre Courtade, Max Olivier, Jean Lagrange, Vincent Latève, Basile Tesselin, joined by Claude Roussel, fresh out of the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS).

2 A first dispatch addressed to the “free newspapers”

The commando bursts into the newsroom. “Nobody moves, nobody goes out… From now on, you will work for France, instead of working for the Germans“, Claude Martial-Bourgeon shouts to a dozen people still in the premises. No one flinches and a German censor is taken to the basement where he is locked up. Responsibilities are distributed: Claude Martial-Bourgeon, the eldest, takes the reins, Gilles Martinet becomes editor-in-chief at only 28 years old.

In 1944, the founders of AFP wanted information freed from German censorship. A first dispatch was published at 11:30 by the agency’s journalists, which read: “The first free newspapers will appear; AFP will send them its first service.”

At that time, AFP dispatches were printed on rudimentary mimeograph machines and distributed by cyclists to newspapers that were still underground and were called Fight, The Parisian released, HumanityAFP reporters crisscross Paris and its suburbs by bike, meeting the Allies and the 2nd DB. On August 25, the agency announced the entry of General Leclerc into the capital. “All the bells of Paris rang and it was an intense moment of emotion”Gilles Martinet will tell us.

3 Journalists present in 150 countries

Today, Agence France Presse is one of the three major Western press agencies, along with the British Reuters and the American Associated Press (AP). Its 1,700 journalists are present in 150 countries. AFP constantly delivers to its clients – such as franceinfo – dispatches in all areas of information: news, economics, politics, sports, etc. AFP is multimedia: text, photos, videos.

AFP’s revenue comes from subscriptions, but that is not enough. Every year there is compensation from the State, justified by the fact that the agency has a mission of general interest. It is run by a CEO and a board of directors composed of representatives of the national and regional daily press and public broadcasting. There are also representatives of the State, appointed by ministries.

The unprecedented status of the AFP will take some time to mature in people’s minds. It will be created by the law of January 10, 1957, adopted unanimously by the National Assembly, which guarantees its independence. It is specified that the agency must not under any circumstances come under the control of an ideological, political or economic group. The AFP is theoretically independent, but it has happened in the past that the State has intervened clearly: in the 1970s, the President of the Republic Valéry Giscard d’Estaing pushed his candidate to the head of the agency, which he considered too independent.