The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned
news agency
A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency ma ...
founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide.
TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterprise, owned by the
government of Russia
The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...
. Headquartered in Moscow, it has 70 offices in Russia and in the
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...
(CIS), "along with 56 global branches in 53 countries".
In the Soviet period, it was named the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union () and was the central agency of the
Soviet government
The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was the executive and administrative organ of the highest body of state authority, the All-Union Supreme Soviet. It was formed on 30 December 1922 and abolished on 26 December 199 ...
for news collection and distribution for all Soviet newspapers, radio and television stations. After the
dissolution of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
, it was renamed Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (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".
History
1902: TTA, SPTA, PTA, ROSTA
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 the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
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 after St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd, SPTA was renamed the Petrograd Telegraph Agency (PTA). It was seized by the
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
in November 1917 and by December was renamed as the Central Information Agency of the Soviet Russian
Council of People's Commissars
The Council of People's Commissars (CPC) (), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (), were the highest executive (government), executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR), and the Sovi ...
. 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".
1925: TASS
On July 10, 1925, the ''Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (Телеграфное агентство Советского Союза, Telegrafnoye agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza, TASS)'' was established by a decree of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet () was the standing body of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The Presidium of the Soviet Union is, in short, the legislativ ...
, 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 the ''TASS Report'' (, ''Soobshchyeniye TASS'').
TASS included affiliated news agencies in all 14 (in 1940–56, 15) Soviet republics in addition to Russia: RATAU (
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...
, now
Ukrinform
The National News Agency of Ukraine (), or Ukrinform (), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of Ukraine. It was founded in 1918 during the Ukrainian War of IndependenceBelTA ( Byelorussian SSR), ETA ( Estonian SSR), Latinform (
Latvian SSR
The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990.
The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...
Armenian SSR
The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics ...
Kyrgyz SSR
The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR), also known as the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kyrgyz SSR), KySSR or Kirgiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirgiz SSR), was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of ...
Tajik SSR
The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, also commonly known as Soviet Tajikistan, the Tajik SSR, TaSSR, or simply Tajikistan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1929 to 1991 in Central Asia.
The Tajik Re ...
, now Khovar). Over the history other affiliates existed, e.g. KarelfinTAG for the short-lived
Karelo-Finnish SSR
The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic (Karelo-Finnish SSR), also called Soviet Karelia or simply known as Karelia, was a republic of the Soviet Union. It existed from 31 March 1940 until it was made part of the Russian SFSR on 16 July 1956 ...
(1940–56). 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.
In 1961,
Ria Novosti
RIA Novosti (), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (), is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013, by a decree of Vladimir Putin, it was liquidated and its assets and workforce were transferred to the newly created ...
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 the
Government of the Soviet Union
The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was the executive and administrative organ of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, All-Union Supreme Soviet. It ...
.
The agency was frequently used as a
front organization
A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...
by the Soviet intelligence agencies, such as the
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
(later
KGB
The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
informants
An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...
abroad. In 1959, Alexander Alexeyev was dispatched to Cuba on a fact-finding mission, ostensibly working for TASS. Former
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
professor James David Atkinson stated that TASS was an "effective propaganda medium" but that it concentrated "more heavily on espionage than on other activities." TASS frequently served as a vector for Soviet active measures.
1992: ITAR-TASS
In January 1992, following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...
re-defined the status of TASS and renamed it the ''Information Telegraph Agency of Russia''. In May 1994, the
Russian Government
The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...
adopted a resolution "''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 the ''Telegraph agency of communication and messages'' (). The agency as a whole was referred to as "ITAR-TASS".
In September 2014, the agency reverted to its former name as the ''Russian News Agency TASS''.
Government of Russia
The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...
. Headquartered in Moscow, TASS has 70 offices in Russia and in the
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...
(CIS), as well as 68 bureaus around the world.
TASS press center
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. The agency organized the first News Agencies World Congress (NAWC) in 2004.
TASS building
TASS is headquartered in a building in the Soviet brutalist 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.
Controversies and criticisms
TASS has been cited as a source of
disinformation
Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...
* On 27 February 2022, "under the circumstances of the new media regulation enforced by the Russian government, which is heavily restricting media freedom", the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) unanimously decided to suspend TASS as "not being able to provide unbiased news", pending an exclusion decision.
* In March 2022, Getty Images, after "monitoring Russian state news agency TASS closely since Russia's invasion of Ukraine" decided to end its partnership with TASS for what it said was violating editorial policy.
examples of propagation of disinformation in relation to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
following the invasion. Zelenskyy used social media to post statements, videos and photos to counter this Russian disinformation.
* TASS made unsubstantiated claims that Ukraine was making a nuclear dirty bomb.
Directors of TASS
*M. Fedorov (1902–1904)
*Pavel Miller (1904–1906)
*S. S. Trubachev (1906-1907)
*Alexander Gris (1907—1910)
*O.-F. I. Lamkert (1910–1917)
* Leonid Stark (1917–1918)
* Lev Sosnovsky (1918–1919)
* Platon Kerzhentsev (1919–1921)
*Nikolay I. Smirnov (1921)
*Iosif Goldenberg (1921–1922)
* Jacob Doletzky (1922–1925)
*A. A. Yablonsky (1925–1930)
* Yakov Khavinson (1937–43)
* Nikolai G. Palgunov (1943–60)
* Dmitry P. Goryunov (1960–67)
* Sergey Lapin (1967–70)
* Leonid Zamyatin (1970–78)
* Vladimir Khatuntsev (1978–79)
* Sergei A. Losev (1979–88)
* Leonid Kravchenko (1988–90)
* Lev Spiridonov (1990–91)
* Vitaly Ignatenko (1991–2012)
* Sergei Mikhailov (2012–2023)
* Andrey Kondrashov (2023–present)