Foreign Press Association

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) is a not-for-profit Friendly Society established in 1888, at the time of the Jack the Ripper murders. It organises press briefings and events at central locations in London and coordinates and facilitates the work of international journalists based in London. Members of the association cover major British news, current affairs, politics, culture and entertainment and report from London back to their individual international news outlets.

It is a umbrella organization for foreign journalists,^[a] offering support, social events and press briefings in London and beyond.

History

• The FPA was founded in 1888 and is the oldest and biggest association of foreign correspondents in the world.^[1] The organization has 500+ full members and around 1800 press card holders, representing around 1,000 media outlets from some 70+ countries around the world.^[2]

Director

• 2007-2017: Christopher Wyld
• 2018- Deborah Bonetti

President

• 1888-1892: T. Johnson, France
• 1893-1896: Heinrich Pollak, Austria
• 1896-1911: Gabriel de Wesselitsky, Russia »Novoye Vremya (newspaper)« 
• 1911-1919:Joseph Louis Condurier de Chassaigne, France Le Figaro^[3]
• 1919-1921: Charles Sauerwein, France
• 1921-1924: Jacques de Marsillac, France
• 1924-1927: J.C. Van Der Veer, Netherlands
• 1927-1934: Eric Sweden, Sweden
• 1934-1936: Jean Massip, France
• 1936-1938: Stefan Litauer, Poland
• 1938-1940: Adalbert de Segonzac ^[4]
• 1941-1943: Gottfried Keller, Switzerland^[5]
• 1943-1945: Andrew Rothstein, Russia
• 1945-1947: Dr Hans W. Egli, Switzerland
• 1947-1952: Gottfried Keller, Switzerland
• 1952-1954: Dr Hans W Egli, Switzerland
• 1954-1955: Adalbert de Segonzac, France
• 1955-1956: Hedvig Thorburn-MacFarlane, Sweden (the first woman President of the FPA)
• 1956-1958: Richard Jokel, Netherlands
• 1958-1959: Eric Mettler, Switzerland
• 1959-1961: Claude Veillet-Lavallee, France, France-Soir
• 1961-1962: C.J. Van Sluys, Netherlands
• 1962-1964: Nasim Ahmed, Pakistan ( Al-Jamhour Al-Jadid, Beirut, El Gomhouria)
• 1964-1966: Hans Benirschke, Germany
• 1966-1967: Paul Möller, Denmark
• 1967-1969: Basile Tesselin, France
• 1969-1971: Henry Gustav Alexander, Germany (1914-1986) ^[6]
• 1971-1973: Henri A. Van Der Zee, Netherlands
• 1973-1974: Sam Plattner, Switzerland
• 1974-1976: W. Kornacki, Poland
• 1976-1977: Francis Devred, France
• 1977-1979: Fritz Beer, Germany
• 1979-1980: Erik Arni, Finland
• 1980-1982: Claus Toksvig, Denmark
• 1982-1984: Syed M. Mustafa, Pakistan
• 1984-1985: Robert Darroch, Australia
• 1985-1987: Roland Hill (journalist)^[7] Germany
• 1987-1989: Ali Bahaijoub, Morocco
• 1989-1991: Reiner Gatermann, Germany
• 1991-1993: Patricia L. Layman, USA
• 1993-1995: Mustapha Karkouti, Syria
• 1995-1997: Barbara Kollmeyer, Germany
• 1999-2000: Tomohiko Taniguchi, Japan
• 2000-2002: Tine Van Houts, Netherlands
• 2002-2003: Philippe Le Corre, France
• 2003-2005: Catherine Mayer, USA
• 2005-2007 Annalisa Piras, Italy^[8]
• 2007–2009: Nazenin Ansari, UK-Iran
• 2009-2011: Hosny Emam, Egypt
• 2011-2013: Jurgen Kronig, Germany
• 2014-2016: Paola Totaro, Australia
• 2016-2018: Deborah Bonetti, Italy
• 2018-2020: Bénédicte Paviot
• 2020-2022: Kate McCure, Australian Media
• 2022-2023: Daniel Faitaua, New Zealand
• 2023-2025: Dagmar Seeland, Stern Magazine, Germany
• 2025- Vasil Hristov, Bulgaria

^[9]

The Foreign Press Association Media Awards

Dedicated to excellence in journalism, the FPA Media Awards present a unique opportunity for journalists to be celebrated and recognised by their international peers. British and international entries are welcome from all the world's major broadcasters, newspapers, digital news and magazines.

Known as the "Oscars of Journalism", the annual Foreign Press Association Media Awards are among the most prestigious awards ceremonies in the world.

Keynote speaker for the FPA Awards 2023 was HM The Queen (Camilla)

Previous keynote speakers included:

• HM Queen Rania of Jordan
• Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo
• Senator Mario Monti, former PM of Italy
• HM King Felipe VI of Spain (when still Prince of Asturias)
• HM The King (Charles III) when still Prince of Wales

See also

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association: 1943-June 12, 2023 rebranded to Golden Globe Foundation a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who reported on the US-American entertainment industry for predominantly foreign media markets is founding and conducting the annual Golden Globe Awards.

Notes

1. A foreign journalist is a journalist that has not the citizenship of a referring state and is subjext to alien law of the referring state.