Havas. The history of the world's first news agency

Portrait of Charles-Louis Havas. [public domain, Wikimedia]

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In 1835, Charles-Louis Havas was 53 years old. He had experience in trade, banking, and translation. Due to his background, he spoke French fluently and was proficient in English and German. His wife Jeanne was skilled in Portuguese and Spanish. The couple often worked as translators for businessmen and bankers. This brought solid income to their family of eight. However, fate took a turn. After Napoleon fell in 1825, the Havas family faced financial ruin. Charles then took various jobs to support his family.

Banker Gabriel-Julien Ouvrard was also bankrupt, but he had a keen mind for big business. He proposed creating a European network of informants for trade, banking, and transport. Havas accepted the task. By reading world newspapers, he gathered news for Ouvrard and anyone else who paid. This work led to the creation of L`Bureau Havas (Havas Bureau) in Paris in 1832.

Foreign newspaper translation bureau

The bureau was located near the French stock exchange, the main post office, and several newspaper offices. This location made work easy. Staff gathered news quickly and sent it out using semaphore telegraphs. Over time, the office grew. Among the new employees were Berhard Wolff and Julius Reuter, who later created their own news agencies.


During three years of operation, Havas bought two small competing press offices. On October 22, 1835, Bureau de Traduction des Journaux Étrangers (Bureau of Translation of Foreign Newspapers) opened in Paris at Hôtel Bullion on 4 Jean-Jacques-Rousseau Street. The name soon changed to L`Agence Havas.

By this time, Havas worked with about 200 newspapers. Besides office staff, he had five foreign correspondents. The most active worker was James Collans, an associate at the London Stock Exchange.

English and German newspapers arrived at the Paris office daily. Charles translated these texts himself, while his wife translated Spanish and Portuguese items. Information also arrived from Egypt, Brazil, and the United States. The news expanded beyond business, shipping, and banking to cover politics, law, and culture. Thus, the world`s first press agency was born. The French government even hired the agency in 1838 to deliver ministerial press reports to public offices in exchange for a state grant.

Messengers, telegraph and pigeons on the payroll

L`Agence Havas gained praise, and clients grew. The bureau itself expanded. Besides translators, messengers, and correspondents, they used a flock of carrier pigeons. These birds carried news from London or Brussels within a single day. Pigeons worked on the payroll for five years. Then, in 1845, Havas set up an electric telegraph, allowing news to arrive and leave even faster.

The agency grew rapidly, and Havas built a monopoly without press competition. Wealthy, recognized, but tired, Charles decided to retire. In 1846, at age 64, he handed the business to his sons: older brother Charles-Guillaume (42) and younger brother Auguste-Jean (39). They managed the press office well and added advertising to its services.

In 1852, the Havas brothers partnered with Laffite, Bullier et Cie, a firm controlling the advertising office of the newspaper Bulletin de Paris. This deal allowed them to deliver both news and ads to newspapers. Ads brought strong revenue, offsetting the high cost of collecting news. Four years later, in 1856, the agency acquired Office-Correspondence, the largest press and ad firm of that time.

The information ring and division of influence

That same year, 1856, the Havas brothers signed deals with British agency Reuters and German agency Wolff. In 1859, these agencies set up their first joint offices, forming an information cartel named The Ring. Ten years later, in 1870, the three partners signed an agreement to divide global influence:

• Havas: France, Romance-speaking countries, and South America
• Wolff: Germany, Northern and Eastern Europe
• Reuters: Great Britain, the Netherlands, and non-European countries

The agencies expanded despite Wolff`s struggles in the Russian market. They opened new branch offices. In 1867, Havas launched a firm named Fabra in Spain and entered the Portuguese market.

On November 1, 1857, Havas merged with Société Générale des Annonces (General Advertising Company), adding a new division to its services. With this merge came director Jacques-Edouard Lebey, who took charge of the advertising section.

When Charles-Louis Havas died on May 21, 1858, his company was thriving. His sons managed the firm effectively and signed lucrative deals. Sadly, the older brother died in 1874, leaving Auguste alone at the helm, supported by the Lebey family. In 1879, with Havas as a media giant, 66-year-old Auguste decided to retire and sell the business.

Havas on the stock exchange. Not for news this time

Edouard Lebey, son of Jacques, took over as director. Meanwhile, Baron Frédéric-Émile d`Erlanger bought the full agency for 7 million francs. That setup changed quickly. That same year, Lebey and d`Erlanger turned Havas into a joint-stock company capitalized at 8.5 million francs and listed its shares on the stock exchange.

By the late 19th century, Agence Havas ran two main divisions:

• news under the management of Edouard Lebey (son)
• advertising and announcements, run by Jacques-Edouard Lebey (father)

Starting in 1894, both divisions served private subscribers. They delivered news using telescriptors, devices that sent and received drawings and handwriting.


The 30-year-old director Lebey took on his tasks with great ambition. Havas soon dominated the Belgian and Spanish markets. He also expanded operations in Morocco, entering the real estate market alongside news and advertising. He even tried to convince Russian authorities to use his agency:

"The Havas Agency can achieve this result not only through paid advertising, but also through its dispatches, which are reproduced in all newspapers and can significantly promote the Franco-Russian agreement under current circumstances".

What was the Russian response? It remains unknown due to a lack of documents. Perhaps this offer inspired the creation of the Trade Telegraph Agency in 1902 under the Ministry of Finance, which became the St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency two years later on September 1.

Their own radio mast

Lebey was not the only enthusiast at Havas. Henri Houssaye joined the agency in 1874. Despite being only 21 years old, he was sent to Spain to cover the Third Carlist War. He worked as a correspondent there for two years. In 1879, after Havas became a joint-stock company, he took an executive role. He also served as the director`s right-hand man. From 1900, he ran the entire agency for 14 years. During this time, Lebey struggled with Parkinson`s disease.

Houssaye built a huge radio mast on the roof of the Havas building at Place de la Bourse in 1896. From that moment on, news flowed back and forth even faster.

Under Houssaye, Havas built a network of agencies and correspondents in South America. He became its head in 1902. He resigned in January 1914. His nephew Charles Houssaye took over management duties. In September of that year, Charles had to evacuate the entire company to Bordeaux. World War I had been underway since July 28, and German forces were marching on Paris.

With both chief directors absent after the evacuation, a triumvirate took charge of the agency: Charles Houssaye, André Meynot, and Ernest Barbie. A year later, Charles Houssaye became head of the news division. Léon-Prosper Rénier, head of Société générale des annonces and a Havas partner since 1852, took charge of advertising.

The time of military censorship

The First World War brought military censorship. This was strict wartime regulation, not general oversight. Naturally, war brings its own rules.

• Havas served as the main French press agency
• all incoming dispatches were subject to military censorship
• agencies printed only what French authorities allowed
• distribution of German military announcements was banned

Over the next four years of war, editorial work followed five steps:

• round-the-clock receipt of news by phone and telegraph
• receiving dispatches from the front lines and foreign correspondents
• selection of news items by editors
• military censorship
• sending news to national and global newspapers

The newsroom worked around the clock without rest. When the war ended, old and proven methods returned, but not for long.

Competitors challenge the giant

The war triggered a massive surge in information flow. After it ended, many new news agencies appeared in France and across the globe, such as Agence Radio (1918) and Agence Economique et Financiere (1920). However, global agencies posed an even bigger challenge:

• Polish Telegraphic Agency (PAT) (October 31, 1918)
• ROSTA (Russian Telegraph Agency) (September 1918)
• Czechoslovak News Agency (October 28, 1918)
• Jewish Telegraphic Agency (February 6, 1917)

Charles Houssaye, still head of the news division, partnered with these new agencies while maintaining ties with Reuters and Wolff. He also worked more closely with Radio Paris, located on the second floor of the Havas office building.

These new global agencies grew quickly, expanding operations and pushing established players aside. Although Havas doubled its dispatches in Switzerland in 1923, it lost several key markets:

• Turkey to Anadolu Ajansi (1923)
• Spain to its sister agency Fabra (1926)
• Italy, where the Stefani agency took over the market

Despite losing these markets, Havas stayed profitable thanks to its 1920 merger with Société Générale d’Annonces. A merger is not entirely accurate, as the two firms had worked together for decades.


In reality, they joined into a single entity, making Havas the largest French news and advertising group. It expanded beyond newspapers into cinema and radio. In 1923, it launched an outdoor advertising unit featuring billboards and poster systems. Advertising was always more profitable than news, and Havas made nearly 20 million francs in profit in 1928. It remained a press agency with an international correspondent network, while also standing as France`s largest advertising firm. Despite losing global markets, it survived as a news agency.

League of allied agencies

On December 12, 1923, several global agencies created the League of Allied Agencies. These included Havas and the Polish Telegraphic Agency (PAT). The French agency led this group. As Eugeniusz Rudziński wrote in his 1973 article, its main tasks included:

• development of radio
• struggle against competing state news services
• legal protection of information
• studies on issues of interest to League members

Starting that same year, radio telegraphs made agency work much easier. Teleprinters added further support in 1929. During this period, the agency received strong support from the French government. With government approval and grants, Havas opened a US office in 1924. This office managed all operations in Latin America. State assistance was not purely selfless. Havas shared private reports with government bodies. These reports never appeared in public newspapers. Examples include Nazi propaganda in Denmark between 1923 and 1939. They also covered political and economic events during the Spanish Civil War. Reporters from these countries reported directly to French ministries. Many similar secret documents remain stored in the archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The 1930s brought prosperity to the agency. World events moved fast, and the French state invested heavily in news. Although many knew the state wanted to take over Havas, the agency defended its independence. It raised its global prestige and expanded its reporter network. It also improved its technical equipment. The government funded 47 percent of all investments.

End of 105 years of history

Everything collapsed in 1940. World War II had raged for eighteen months, and German troops marched on Paris for the second time that century. First, in June, agency offices moved to Tours and then to Bordeaux. This journey ended in Clermont-Ferrand, where the Vichy government took over the whole firm.

On November 25, 1940, officials made a decision. The news branch of the Havas Agency began operating as Office français d`information. Henri Mourchet became general director. Former Shanghai and Moscow correspondent Jean Fontenoy headed the news division. Léon Rénier continued to lead the advertising section, which kept the Havas name.

The agency founded by Charles-Louis Havas closed its doors on December 10, 1940. This marked the end of a 105-year history for the world`s first news agency. After the liberation of Paris in August 1944, the Office français d`information became Agence France-Presse. The news agency never returned to the Havas name. Only the advertising branch kept it, growing into the largest French media group today. But that is another story.


Timeline of Havas news agency:

• 1832 - creation of L`Bureau Havas in Paris
• 1835, October 22 - creation of L`Agence Havas
• 1838 - first state grants
• 1845 - electric telegraph in Havas offices
• 1852 - Havas opens an advertising division
• 1856 - Havas acquires Office-Correspondence, the largest press and advertising firm at that time
• 1856 - signing of agreements with British Reuters and German Wolff
• 1857, November 1 - merger of Havas with Société Générale des Annonces (General Advertising Company)
• 1859 - creation of The Ring news cartel (Havas, Wolff, Reuters)
• 1867 - opening of a branch in Spain, Fabra company
• 1870 - signing of the agreement within The Ring cartel on the division of global influence
• 1879 - Frédéric-Émile d`Erlanger becomes owner of Havas
• 1879 - Havas becomes a joint-stock company
• 1896 - Havas installs a radio mast
• 1914, September - evacuation of the company to Bordeaux
• 1914-1918 - Havas under military control
• 1920 - merger with Societe Generale d`Annonces
• 1923 - Havas launches outdoor advertising division (billboards)
• 1923 - telegraphs become the main form of communication
• 1923, December 12 - creation of the League of Allied Agencies under Havas leadership
• 1924 - creation of the US office
• 1929 - teleprinters in Havas offices
• 1940, June - evacuation of Havas offices from Paris
• 1940 - Vichy government takes over the agency
• 1940, December 10 - news division of Havas Agency begins operating as Office français d`information
• 1944, August - Office français d`information becomes Agence France-Presse; Havas news agency ceases to exist

sources:

• https://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media/texts/rocznik-historii-czasopismiennictwa-polskiego/1973-tom-12-numer-4/rocznik_historii_czasopismiennictwa_polskiego-r1973-t12-n4-s550-554.pdf
• https://sk.sagepub.com/ency/edvol/embed/journalism/chpt/havas
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havas
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• https://communication.iresearchnet.com/media/history-of-news-agencies/
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• https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_Lebey
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