About AAPA

French historian Benjamin Stora discusses French-Algerian reconciliation

AAPA members met with French historian Benjamin Stora, author of a recent and controversial report commissioned by President Macron on French-Algerian relations. Prof. Stora is an expert on the topic from the colonial period until today, and is especially known for his work covering the years of the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). With about 25 members attending the zoom conference on…


Huge success for the 2018 AAPA Gala

Hats off to Canada! They hosted a fabulous party for our press association on June 20 at Canadian Ambassador Isabelle Hudon's gorgeous residence and garden. We had a record turnout of 130 members and guests.


Mediapart shows independent news is possible and even profitable, says Edwy Plenel

The investigative online newspaper Mediapart enters its 11th year with a growing paid readership, a healthy balance sheet, and its twin pillars of independence and diversity fully intact, co-founder and publishing editor Edwy Plenel told the AAPA on January 9. When Mediapart was launched 10 years ago on March 16, 2008, virtually no-one - apart from the founders and the 25 staff- believed a paying…


Seine Cruise Celebrates AAPA’s 110th Anniversary

To celebrate the 110th year of the AAPA’s founding, 85 members and their guests took to the water for a celebratory evening cruise on the Seine on Sept. 16. Boarding the “Henri IV,” at the picturesque Pont Neuf, we were treated to plentiful food and drink. The champagne was flowing like water thanks to a stash of left-over bubbly from previous summer Galas. Top-class entertainment was supplied…


AAPA MEMBERS FLOCK TO ANNUAL GARDEN PARTY

Dozens of AAPA members and their guests ignored a searing heatwave to gather for the association’s annual garden party, held on June 21 at the ornate residence of the U.S. ambassador. Neither the muggy conditions nor the absence of the host ambassador – still to be named by the Trump Administration – could dampen the enthusiasm of the 58 members and guests who sipped champagne and exchanged…


Report on the AAPA’s Annual General Meeting Dec. 16

Twenty-five members attended our AGM on Friday, Dec. 16, at the Brasserie de l'Assemblée in the 7th, which started at 7 pm, lasted one hour and was followed by some socializing over drinks and hors-d’oeuvres. 1. President’s report President David Pearson opened the meeting by looking back at 2016, which with 18 events equaled 2015’s record number. Membership increased and finances remained…


Meeting with Jean-François Copé

In our second meeting with him in just over a year, on October 27, Jean-François Copé, close ally of President Nicolas Sarkozy and UMP secretary general, provided insights and blunt commentary on the looming presidential election next spring, and on why he thought there was little if any debate here on France's foreign policy. We met at UMP headquarters over breakfast, almost entirely…


The President’s letter

Dear Association Member, Our Annual General Meeting at John Morris’ home on Nov. 24 was a convivial and productive evening. We discussed a number of topics including: our healthy finances, a recap of the many varied guests we received and events which were organized during the past year, our membership tally, and our ever-evolving website. And, of course, we voted for our officers who will serve…


AAPA Members Meet New Head Of UNESCO

Credit photo: UNESCO/Michel Ravassard Some thirty members had a first-hand chance to probe Irina Bokova’s background, experience and plans for UNESCO following her successful election as Director General of the Paris-based agency, in a newsworthy, lively event on Oct. 7. Our breakfast meeting with Bokova, still at that time Bulgaria's ambassador to France, took place at UNESCO headquarters,…


The press gang: what our members are up to

David Wingeate Pike's new book /Mauthausen: L'Enfer Nazi en Autriche/ (Toulouse: Editions Privat), with a preface by the survivor Pierre Daix, is out in the bookshops. Georgina Oliver's husband, Felix Rozen's latest exhibition (left) is at the Musée des Année 30 in Boulogne Billancourt. Barry James' son Sebastian (www.sebjames.com) has just completed a monumental mural painting on the Crédit…