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Appointments at AFP
Philippe Agret appointed Brussels bureau chief
Philippe Agret, who previously headed the Jerusalem bureau (which covers Israel and the Palestinian territories), became Brussels bureau chief in July. With a degree in history and geography and a diploma from the CFJ, Philippe Agret, now 57, has spent a large part of his career on international postings. He joined the foreign desk at AFP’s Paris headquarters in 1983 and in 1987 was posted to the London bureau where he covered defence and Irish affairs. In 1993 he went on to become Hanoi bureau chief (responsible for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos). On his return to Paris in 1995 he worked on the economics desk, and in 1997 was appointed Bangkok bureau chief (in charge of Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar). In 2001 he returned to Paris to work in the editor in chief’s department until 2003 when he was appointed Tokyo bureau chief. On his return to headquarters in 2008 he became head of AFP’s Europe desk and remained in this job until his posting to Jerusalem.
Gaël Branchereau named Stockholm bureau chief
Gaël Branchereau, 40, is to take up the post of Stockholm bureau chief in September. He began his AFP career in 2000 as a reporter at the Stockholm bureau and went on to work at the Helsinki bureau. He moved to the Agency’s Lille bureau in 2008, and became an editor at the Asia-Pacific regional headquarters in 2011.
Gaël Branchereau has a degree in Applied Foreign Languages, specialised in business and international trade.
Marc Burleigh appointed San José bureau chief
Marc Burleigh, 47, will be posted to the San José bureau in November. Marc Burleigh, who holds a master’s degree in journalism from Canberra University (Australia), will be in charge of the Agency’s Central America bureaux. He joined the English desk at AFP’s Paris headquarters in 1997, and in 2000 was promoted to the position of head of shift. In 2002 he was assigned to the Bureau de Paris. In 2007 he became an Anglophone correspondent in Latin America, based at the Sao Paulo bureau. In 2011 he was posted to Tehran as deputy bureau chief, and was later transferred to the Nicosia regional headquarters. He returned to Paris in 2013, first working on the English desk and then as lifestyle editor.
Ana Fernandez-Robles named Santiago bureau chief
Ana Fernandez-Robles, who earned a master’s degree in information science in Madrid, will take over as Santiago (Chile) bureau chief in October.
After joining the Latin America desk in Paris in 1997, Ana Fernandez-Robles was transferred to the Spanish language sports desk in late 1998. She became Brasilia bureau chief in 1999, and then Managing Director for Central America at the San José bureau in 2006. Since returning to France in 2011, she has been in charge of economics on the Latin America desk.
Patrick Fort named Abidjan bureau chief
Patrick Fort, 46, who holds a degree in history and a diploma from the CUEJ, will take over as Abidjan bureau chief in September.
Patrick Fort joined AFP in 2000 as a reporter at the Madrid bureau, and in 2005 began working in the sports department at the Agency’s Paris headquarters. In late 2006 he was sent as a reinforcement to the Baghdad bureau, where he worked for six months. In 2008 Fort was posted to Libreville as deputy bureau chief, taking over as bureau chief in 2009. On his return to Paris in 2013 he worked on the sports desk before moving to the Bureau de Paris in 2014.
Amélie Herenstein named Islamabad bureau chief
Amélie Herenstein, 41, who holds a master’s degree in Applied Foreign Languages and a diploma from the Aix-Marseille School of Journalism and Communication, will take over as Islamabad bureau chief in January.
After joining AFP’s Frankfurt bureau in 1998, Amélie Herenstein became an economics reporter in 2002, based at the Agency’s Paris headquarters as a member of the banking/insurance and macroeconomic pools. Her next foreign posting was Moscow, where she worked as a reporter from 2007 to 2010. On her return to Paris she spent a few months on the sports desk and in 2011 was sent to Baghdad as a special envoy. Since 2012, she has been based in Milan, where she covers economic news.
Guillaume Klein named Tunis bureau chief
Guillaume Klein, 38, who holds a master’s degree in contemporary history from Montpellier-III University as well a diploma from the University of Paris-Dauphine Institute of Practical Journalism, will take up the post of Tunis bureau chief in September.
After joining AFP as a sports reporter in 2002, Guillaume Klein was transferred to the Lyon bureau in 2005. In 2007 he took a posting on the French desk in Nicosia, and in 2010 joined the political service where he was in charge of covering the prime minister’s office. He has been the Rabat bureau chief since 2012.
Thierry Masure named Lille bureau chief
Thierry Masure, 59, who has a master’s degree in law and a diploma from the École Supérieure de Journalisme in Lille, will take up the post of Lille bureau chief in August.
After joining AFP’s Tours bureau in June 1981, Thierry Masure alternated editing posts (on the France and Africa desks) with reporting posts for AFP’s political department (covering parliamentary sessions) as well as for the social affairs and diplomatic services. In 1987 he went to Libreville as a special envoy and in 1989 was transferred to the social affairs department. In 1994 he was appointed news editor at the Lyon bureau. After a year on the international news desk he was appointed Athens bureau chief in 1998. In 2003 he returned to the political department, and in 2008 was assigned to cover labour union news for the social affairs service. He has been with the political service since 2011.
Sylvie Maligorne named France Deputy Chief Editor
Sylvie Maligorne, who has a degree in economics, has held the post of deputy to AFP’s France chief editor Jean-Luc Bardet since last June.
After working as a stringer for the Rennes bureau, she became a permanent member of staff there in 1985. In 1987 she began reporting for the economic service, specifically on agriculture, agri-food and agricultural raw materials. Maligorne worked for AFP’s political department for many years. From 1991 to 2002 she covered the prime minister’s office. She was then assigned to cover Parliament (National Assembly and Senate), a post she held from 2003 to 2007. She was head of the political department from 2009 until 2014, when she was named “Senior Journalist” in Paris. From 2002 to 2003, she was responsible for special projects in the global news management. And from 2007 to 2009 she headed the general news department.
With Jean-Luc Bardet, Sylvie Maligorne co-authored “Les Coulisse d’une Victoire”, a book about the 2002 presidential campaign. She is also the author of “Duel au sommet”, which recounts the long period of power-sharing between Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin.
Marc Bastian appointed night editor
Marc Bastian, who holds a master’s degree in Applied Foreign Languages and a diploma from the IPJ, will take over as night editor in September.>
Marc Bastian began his career at AFP in 2001 – first as a stringer with the general news service (in the Hauts-de-Seine department and then at the Paris airports) and from 2004 as a permanent member of staff in the Hauts-de-Seine office. After a time on the economics desk in1997, he went to Kabul in 2009 as a special envoy. He worked the night shift on the France desk until 2010 when he was assigned to the general news reporting pool. His next move was to the Africa desk, where he has worked since 2013.
Richard Carter named Head of Europe-Africa English desk
Richard Carter, 38, who holds a master of arts in modern languages from the University of Oxford, will take over as head of the English desk in Paris starting in September.
After joining AFP’s Berlin bureau in 2009, Richard Carter was assigned to the English desk at the Agency’s Paris headquarters in 2013. In summer 2014 he was promoted to the position of deputy head of the Bureau de Paris.
Vincent Drouin appointed deputy head of multimedia documentation service/ text
After covering Parliament in the political service, Vincent Drouin, 59, will take over in September as deputy head of the multimedia documentation service responsible for text. He will supervise production of the text content from the multimedia documentation service alongside his photo equivalent.
He has worked in the Brussels bureau and on new products in the web and mobile service and headed the social affairs office from 2006 to 2010. He has also worked in the economic service where he was a head of shift from 1988 to 1994. Vincent Drouin is a graduate of the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris. He also has a diploma from the CFJ and holds a doctorate in political science.
About AFP
AFP is a global news agency delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. With 2,326 staff spread across almost every country, AFP covers the world 24 hours a day in six languages. AFP delivers the news in video, text, photos, multimedia and graphics to a wide range of customers including newspapers and magazines, radio and TV channels, web sites and portals, mobile operators, corporate clients as well as public institutions.