Agency Havas, the precursor of the international news agency AFP (Agence France-Presse), was started in 1835. Its founder Charles Havas used carrier pigeons to deliver the news faster than the official state services
Divided by technology
In 1845, the news agency started to use electrical telegraphs. An agreement between the three major news agencies—Reuter (as Reuters was known back then), Wolff, and Havas—was signed in 1859. The agreement divided the world between them for the collection and dissemination of information
In 1930, shortwave wireless transmission arrived. This profoundly changed the way international news could be passed on. This brought the alliance of agencies to an end, according to afp.com. Earlier, in 1880, other means of communication such as telephone had arrived
Going fully digital
In 1975, information technology paraphernalia first entered AFP bureaus, and in 1993, the agency went fully digital. In December 2011, the agency launched its official Twitter account and earlier this month, it reached one million followers on the social media platform
Stalin’s death, the first scoop
In late 1944, after the liberation of France from Nazi clutches during World War II, the modern AFP was born. The death of Joseph Stalin, on March 5, 1953, brought AFP its first global scoop that will “leave its mark on the fledgling agency’s history”. “At the time, foreign journalists in Moscow were 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,” according to the agency’s website.