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 TASS Soviet-era brutalist building in Moscow | |
| Company type | Federal State Unitary Enterprise |
|---|---|
| Industry | State medianews agency |
| Founded | 1 September 1904; 120 years ago (1904-09-01) |
| Headquarters | Moscow, Russia |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Andrey Kondrashov (director)[1] |
| Products | News media |
| Owner | Wholly owned byfederal government (as federalunitary enterprise) |
| Website | tass |
TheRussian News Agency TASS,[a] or simplyTASS, is a Russianstate-ownednews agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide.[2]
TASS is registered as aFederal State Unitary Enterprise, owned by thegovernment of Russia.[3] Headquartered in Moscow, it has 70 offices in Russia and in theCommonwealth of Independent States (CIS), "along with 56 global branches in 53 countries".[4]
In the Soviet period, it was named theTelegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (Телеграфное агентство Советского Союза,Telegrafnoye agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza) and was the central agency of theSoviet government for news collection and distribution for all Soviet newspapers, radio and television stations. After thedissolution of the Soviet Union, it was renamedInformation Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS) (Информационное телеграфное агентство России (ИТАР-ТАСС),informatsionnoye telegrafnoye agentstvo Rossii (ITAR-TASS)) in 1992, but reverted to the simpler TASS name in 2014. Currently, on a daily basis TASS is "publishing nearly 3,000 news items in six languages and about 700 photographs and videos from correspondents in Russia and across the world".[4]
As of September 2024[update], theMedia and Journalism Research Center evaluated TASS to be "State Controlled Media" under itsState Media Matrix.[5][6]
The origin of TASS dates back to December 1902 when it began operations as the Commercial Telegraph Agency (TTA, Torgovo-Telegrafnoe Agentstvo) under the Ministry of Finance, with Torgovo-Promyshlennaya Gazeta's staff being the main supplier of journalists. As the demand for non-business news began during the first battles of theRusso-Japanese War in February 1904, the agency changed its name to the St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency (SPTA). As there was no change of headquarters and almost no change in its staff and function, it was a mere rebranding.
In August 1914, one day afterSt. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd, SPTA was renamed the Petrograd Telegraph Agency (PTA). It was seized by theBolsheviks in November 1917 and by December was renamed as the Central Information Agency of theSoviet RussianCouncil of People's Commissars. On 7 September 1918, the presidium renamed PTA and the Press bureau into the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA), which became "the central information agency of the whole Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic".
On July 10, 1925, theTelegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (Телеграфное агентство Советского Союза, Telegrafnoye agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza, TASS) was established[7][8] by a decree of thePresidium of the Supreme Soviet, and took over the duties of the ROSTA as the country's central information agency. TASS enjoyed "exclusive right to gather and distribute information outside the Soviet Union, as well as the right to distribute foreign and domestic information within the Soviet Union, and manage the news agencies of the Soviet republics". Official state information was delivered as theTASS Report (Russian:Сообщение ТАСС,Soobshchyeniye TASS).
TASS included affiliated news agencies in all 14 (in 1940–56, 15) Soviet republics in addition to Russia: RATAU (Ukrainian SSR, nowUkrinform),BelTA (Byelorussian SSR), ETA (Estonian SSR), Latinform (Latvian SSR, nowLETA),ELTA (Lithuanian SSR), ATEM (Moldavian SSR, nowMoldpres),Armenpress (Armenian SSR), Gruzinform (Georgian SSR), Azerinform (Azerbaijan SSR, nowAZERTAC), UzTAG (Uzbek SSR, nowUzA), KazTAG (Kazakh SSR, nowKazinform), KyrTAG (Kyrgyz SSR, nowKabar), Turkmeninform (Turkmen SSR, nowTDH) and TajikTA (Tajik SSR, nowKhovar). Over the history other affiliates existed, e.g. KarelfinTAG for the short-livedKarelo-Finnish SSR (1940–56).[citation needed] In addition to producing reports for general consumption, TASS produced packages of content for non-public use. Western news reports and potentially embarrassing domestic news would be compiled daily into a collection known as "White Tass", and particularly sensitive news would be compiled into a smaller collection known as "Red Tass". These collections were made available only to top journalists and political leaders, respectively.[9]
In 1961,Ria Novosti was created to supplement TASS, mainly in foreign reporting and human-interest stories. After 1971, TASS was elevated to the status of State Committee at theGovernment of the Soviet Union.
The agency was frequently used as afront organization by the Soviet intelligence agencies, such as theNKVD (laterKGB) andMain Intelligence Directorate, with TASS employees serving asinformants abroad.[10] In 1959,Alexander Alexeyev was dispatched to Cuba on a fact-finding mission, ostensibly working for TASS.[11] FormerGeorgetown University professor James David Atkinson stated that TASS was an "effective propaganda medium" but that it concentrated "more heavily on espionage than on other activities."[12] TASS frequently served as a vector for Sovietactive measures.[13]
In January 1992, following thedissolution of the Soviet Union, aPresidential Decree signed byBoris Yeltsin re-defined the status of TASS and renamed it theInformation Telegraph Agency of Russia. In May 1994, theRussian Government adopted aresolution "On approval of the Charter of the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia", under which it operates as a central government news agency. The TASS acronym was, by this point, well-recognized around the world and so was retained after being redefined as theTelegraph agency of communication and messages (Russian:Телеграфное агентство связи и сообщения,romanized:Telegrafnoye agentstvo svazi i soobshcheniya). The agency as a whole was referred to as "ITAR-TASS".
In September 2014, the agency reverted to its former name as theRussian News Agency TASS.[citation needed]
TASS is registered as aFederal State Unitary Enterprise, owned by theGovernment of Russia.[3] Headquartered in Moscow, TASS has 70 offices in Russia and in theCommonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as well as 68 bureaus around the world.
TASS multi-media press center is a communication floor in the heart of Moscow. Every year it hosts some 300 events featuring high-ranking Russian officials, foreign heads of state, leaders of main political parties, representatives of the world of arts and culture, scientists and sporting personalities as well as managers of Russian and foreign business enterprises. TASS press centers also operate in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.
TASS is a media partner of high-profile conferences, forums and exhibitions in Russia and abroad.[14] The agency organized the first News Agencies World Congress (NAWC) in 2004.[15]
TASS is headquartered in a building in the Sovietbrutalist style built in 1977. In November 2021, an association of Russian architects criticized plans by Moscow city authorities to renovate the building without due regard for the preservation of its historic appearance.[16]
TASS has been cited as a source ofdisinformation as part of Russianinfluence operations.[17]
As of March 2022,[update] examples of propagation of disinformation in relation to theRussian invasion of Ukraine are as follows:
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