Discussions are underway between AFP’s board of directors and the French government concerning the future ownership of the press agency, according to Le Figaro newspaper. AFP CEO Pierre Louette believes the agency needs significant investment to be able to offer services that compete in today’s world and that the current corporate structure, set up in 1957, hampers the ability to raise the necessary money.
But the solution of becoming a company with one owner, for example the French government, raises the question of how the agency preserves its independence.
Rival agencies, such as Associated Press, are facing the same pressures as AFP, caused by the rise of modern methods of sourcing news. One way forward would be to offer specialist services, as Reuters have done for the finance sector.