Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the
state-owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public owne ...
international radio broadcaster of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with
Deutsche Welle, the
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...
, the
Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the State media, state-owned news network and International broadcasting, international radio broadcaster of the United States, United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international br ...
,
Radio Netherlands Worldwide, and
China Radio International.
RFI broadcasts 24 hours per day around the world in French and in 12 other languages in FM, shortwave, medium wave, satellite and on its website. It is a channel of the state company
France Médias Monde. The majority of shortwave transmissions are in French and
Hausa but also includes some hours of
Swahili,
Portuguese,
Mandinka Mandinka, Mandika, Mandinkha, Mandinko, or Mandingo may refer to:
Media
* ''Mandingo'' (novel), a bestselling novel published in 1957
* ''Mandingo'' (film), a 1975 film based on the eponymous 1957 novel
* ''Mandingo (play)'', a play by Jack Kir ...
, and
Russian. RFI broadcasts to over 150 countries on 5 continents.
Africa is the largest part of radio listeners, representing 60% of the total audience in 2010. In the
Paris region
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
, RFI comprises between 150,000 and 200,000 listeners.
In 2007, the audience was of 46.1 million listeners, breaking down into 27.5 million in Africa, 10.5 million in the Middle East, 4.2 million in the Americas, 2.2 million in Europe and 1.7 million in Asia-Oceania.
History
RFI was created in 1975 as part of
Radio France by the
Government of France
The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...
, and replaced the
Poste Colonial (created in 1931),
Paris-Mondial (1937),
Radio Paris
Radio Paris was a French radio broadcasting company best known for its Axis propaganda broadcasts in Vichy France during World War II.
Radio Paris evolved from the first private radio station in France, called Radiola, founded by pioneering Fren ...
(1939), a private station which was commandeered by the Germans during the
occupation of France
The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
, and the Voice of France which was operated by the
Vichy regime from 1941 to 1944,
RTF Radio Paris (1945) and
ORTF Radio Paris (1965). In 1986 the
French Parliament changed the law to allow RFI to operate independently of Radio France.
RFI operates under the auspices and primary budget of the
Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. It broadcasts primarily in French, but also in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
,
Swahili,
Hausa,
Spanish,
Portuguese,
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
** Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...
,
Russian,
Persian,
Chinese,
Vietnamese,
Cambodian and as of 2015,
Manding Manding may refer to:
* Manding languages, a language-dialect continuum in West Africa
* Mandinka (disambiguation)
** Mandinka language, one of the Manding languages
** Mandinka people, a West African ethnic group
* The Mandé peoples who speak ...
. As of 2 April 2020, the English service has ceased broadcasting, replaced by a selection of French music.
It also owns
Monte Carlo Doualiya
Monte Carlo Doualiya (MCD), formerly known as RMC Moyen-Orient ( en, Radio Monte Carlo Middle East), is a French public radio service that broadcasts across the Arab world. It was founded in 1972 and, like Radio France Internationale (RFI) is pa ...
(formerly Radio Monte Carlo Middle East), which produces
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
programmes in Paris, and airs them from a transmitter in Cyprus to audiences across the Middle East and North Africa.
Incidents
On 17 September 2002,
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
lese President
Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Gnassingbé Eyadéma (; born Étienne Gnassingbé, 26 December 1935 – 5 February 2005) was the president of Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005, after which he was immediately succeeded by his son, Faure Gnassingbé.
Eyadéma participated i ...
tried to stop the broadcasting of an interview with one of his opponents,
Agbéyomé Kodjo, by phoning directly to the
Elysée Palace. The interview was not
censored by
Jean-Paul Cluzel
Jean-Paul Cluzel (born 29 January 1947) is a French government official and politician. Among other positions, he has served as Inspector General of Finance, director of the Paris Opera, and CEO of Radio France Internationale and Radio France. H ...
, RFI's CEO at the time, due to the coordinated intervention of the journalists' trade unions. However, a report raising questions regarding the
French secret services responsibilities in the 1995 death of judge
Bernard Borrel
Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname.
The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...
in
Djibouti
Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
, which was broadcast on 17 May 2005, was later removed from RFI's website for undisclosed reasons, possibly due to the intervention of Djiboutian President
Ismail Omar Guelleh.
On 21 October 2003,
Jean Hélène was reporting for RFI during the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
in
Ivory Coast when he was killed in
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...
by police sergeant Théodore Séry Dago.
On 2 November 2013, RFI reporting team
Ghislaine Dupont
Ghislaine Dupont (; 13 January 1956 – 2 November 2013) was a French journalist who specialised in African issues.
Personal history
She lived as a child some years in Africa. After college, she enrolled in the École supérieure de journalisme ...
and
Claude Verlon Claude Verlon (6 July 1958 – 2 November 2013), a 30-year veteran, French journalist and sound engineer with Radio France Internationale, was killed along with his colleague Ghislaine Dupont in Kidal, Mali while reporting.
Personal informat ...
were murdered while covering the
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...
elections. The
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
set their death date to commemorate the
International Day of Impunity
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
each year.
In November 2020, RFI mistakenly published numerous obituaries of famous people on its own web site, as well as sending them to related web sites, after moving draft stories to a new system.
Podcasts
RFI offers a daily podcast in simple
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, accessible via
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...
, named ''Journal en français facile''. There are also several other podcasts including the weekly ''
Afrique Presse
Afrique is Africa in French.
It may also refer to:
* Afrique (impressionist) (1907-1961), South African singer and impressionist, born Alexander Witkin
* ''Afrique'' (album), a 1971 album by Count Basie
* Afrique, an American R&B-jazz studio ban ...
'',
which is hosted by Assane Diop and discusses the most important news in Africa that week.
Slogans
« The world's radio! » (1987 - 1996)
« And the news become worldwide » (2010 - 2013)
« Voices of the world » (from 2013)
See also
*
France 24
France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris. Its channels broadcast in French, English, Arabic, and Spanish and are aimed at the overseas market.
Based in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Mo ...
*
List of international radio broadcasters
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
English-language site
RFI Hausa serviceRFI English Facebook PageRFI Music programme on Facebook World Tracks
RFI English language Music sectionMusic biographies in the RFI English language website
{{Authority control
1975 establishments in France
Publicly funded broadcasters
Radio in France
Radio France
International broadcasters
Radio stations established in 1975
Multilingual news services
France Médias Monde