The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none), is a major 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 radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswir ...
founded in 1904. TASS is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide.
TASS is registered as a
Federal State Unitary Enterprise
A unitary enterprise (russian: унитарное предприятие) is a government-owned corporation in Russia and some other post-Soviet states. Unitary enterprises are business entities that have no ownership rights to the assets that th ...
, owned by the
Government of Russia.
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 intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
(CIS), as well as 68 bureaus around the world.
In Soviet times, it was named the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (russian: Телегра́фное аге́нтство Сове́тского Сою́за, translit=Telegrafnoye agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza, label=none) and was the central agency for news collection and distribution for all Soviet newspapers, radio and television stations. After the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, the agency was renamed Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS) (russian: Информацио́нное телегра́фное аге́нтство Росси́и (ИТА́Р-ТАСС), translit=Informatsionnoye telegrafnoye agentstvo Rossii (ITAR-TASS), label=none) in 1992, but regained the simpler TASS name in 2014.
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 began during the first battles of the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
in February 1904, the agency had to change 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
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
was renamed Petrograd, SPTA was renamed the Petrograd Telegraph Agency (PTA). It was seized by
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
in November 1917 and by December was renamed as the Central Information Agency of the
Soviet Russian
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
Council of People's Commissars
The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...
. On 7 September 1918, the presidium renamed PTA and the Press bureau into the Russian Telegraph Agency (
ROSTA Rosta may refer to:
*Rosta, Iran, a historical district in Isfahan area in Iran
*Rosta, Piedmont, a ''comune'' in the province of Turin, Piedmont, Italy
**Rosta railway station
*Rosta, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Russia
* Rosta, Öreb ...
), which became "the central information agency of the whole Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic".
1925: TASS
![Zdanie tass](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Zdanie_tass.jpg)
In July 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 (russian: Президиум Верховного Совета, Prezidium Verkhovnogo Soveta) was a body of state power in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).[Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...]
, now
Ukrinform
The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of ...
),
BelTA
The Belarusian Telegraph Agency or BelTA ( be, Беларускае Тэлеграфнае Агенцтва, russian: link=no, Белорусское Телеграфное Агентство, БелТА) is the state-owned national news agency ...
(
Byelorussian SSR), ETA (
Estonian SSR), Latinform (
Latvian SSR, now
LETA
LETA is the main Latvian news agency. Its headquarters are in Riga. It is owned by Estonian entrepreneur Margus Linnamäe through his company Postimees Group.
History
It was founded as ''Latopress'' in 1919, soon after Latvia became indepe ...
),
ELTA ELTA may mean one of the following:
Broadcasting
* ELTA 1 HD, the first commercial HD cable television channel in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* ELTA 2, a commercial music television channel in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* , a television channel in Taiwan
O ...
(
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...
), ATEM (
Moldavian SSR
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 194 ...
, now
Moldpres
The state newsagency Moldpres is a non-budgetary, self-financing organization, founded by the government of the Republic of Moldova
A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a st ...
),
Armenpress
Armenpress (Armenian Press; hy, Արմենպրես) is the oldest and the main state news agency in Armenia.
History and profile
Armenpress was founded on 18 December 1918 by the government of the First Republic of Armenia as the Armenian Teleg ...
(
Armenian SSR
The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...
), Gruzinform (
Georgian SSR
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц ...
), Azerinform (
Azerbaijan SSR, now
AZERTAC
Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC; az, Azərbaycan Dövlət İnformasiya Agentliyi, shortened as ''AZƏRTAC'') is the official news agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Dövlət ...
), UzTAG (
Uzbek SSR
Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз ...
, now
UzA), KazTAG (
Kazakh SSR
; kk, Қазақ Советтік Социалистік Республикасы)
*1991: Republic of Kazakhstan (russian: Республика Казахстан; kk, Қазақстан Республикасы)
, linking_name = the ...
, now
Kazinform), KyrTAG (
Kyrgyz SSR
The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR; ky, Кыргыз Советтик Социалисттик Республикасы, Kyrgyz Sovettik Sotsialisttik Respublikasy, ky, Кыргыз ССР, Kyrgyz SSR, russian: Киргизск ...
, now
Kabar
The Kabars ( el, Κάβαροι), also known as Qavars (Qabars) or Khavars were Khazar rebels who joined the Magyar confederation possibly in the 9th century as well as the Rus' Khaganate.
Sources
The Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII is the ...
), Turkmeninform (
Turkmen SSR
Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to:
Peoples Historical ethnonym
* Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages
Ethnic groups
* Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish des ...
, now
TDH) and TajikTA (
Tajik SSR
The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic,, ''Çumhuriji Şūraviji Sotsialistiji Toçikiston''; russian: Таджикская Советская Социалистическая Республика, ''Tadzhikskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Resp ...
, now
Khovar
Khovar is the official state media news agency of Tajikistan.
History
The news agency was established on December 31, 1925, as the Tajik Telegraph Agency (TTA) during the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic era. During World War II, the age ...
). Over the history other affiliates existed, e.g. KarelfinTAG for the
Karelo-Finnish SSR. 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 important news would be compiled into a smaller collection known as "Red Tass." These collections were made available only to journalistic and political leaders, and to top journalists and political leaders, respectively.
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 the
Government of the Soviet Union
The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...
.
The agency was frequently used as a
front organization by the Soviet intelligence agencies, such as the
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
(later
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
) and
Main Intelligence Directorate Main Intelligence Directorate may refer to:
* Main Directorate of Intelligence (Ukraine), the military intelligence service of Ukraine
* GRU
The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́ ...
, with TASS employees serving as
informants
An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...
. 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 research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
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, a
Presidential Decree
A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...
signed by
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
re-defined status of TASS and renamed it the ''Information Telegraph Agency of Russia''. In May 1994 The
Russian Government adopted a
resolution
Resolution(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate
* Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body
* New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...
"''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'' ( rus, Телеграфное агентство связи и сообщения, Telegrafnoye agentstvo svazi i soobshcheniya). The agency as a whole was referred to as "ITAR-TASS".
In September 2014 the agency regained its former name as ''Russian News Agency TASS''.
Organization
![Tass2 Barry Kent](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Tass2_Barry_Kent.jpg)
TASS is registered as a
Federal State Unitary Enterprise
A unitary enterprise (russian: унитарное предприятие) is a government-owned corporation in Russia and some other post-Soviet states. Unitary enterprises are business entities that have no ownership rights to the assets that th ...
, owned by the
Government of Russia.
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 intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
(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 false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate.
The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the L ...
as part of Russian
influence operations
Political warfare is the use of political means to compel an opponent to do one's will, based on hostile intent. The term political describes the calculated interaction between a government and a target audience, including another state's govern ...
.
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
* 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
The European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) is a federation of news agencies in Europe. The organisation was founded in 1956 and is based in Bern at the seat of the Swiss Telegraphic Agency (sda). As of 2015, EANA has 32 members. EANA's predec ...
(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.
As of March 2022, examples of propagation of disinformation in relation to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine are as follows:
* TASS falsely claimed that Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
fled
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Kyi ...
following the invasion and also that he had surrendered. 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
A dirty bomb or radiological dispersal device is a radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the dispersal agent/conventional explosion with ...
.
* TASS published unsubstantiated claims that "Ukrainian nationalists" were responsible for Ukrainian civilians not being able to leave the city of
Mariupol
Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast ( Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russia ...
while the city was besieged and bombed by the Russian military.
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 Leonid Nikolaevich Stark (Russian: Леонид Николаевич Старк; pseudonyms: Afghani, L. Manucharov, P. Ryabovsky,1889 – November, 1937) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet diplomat and editor.
Biography
Leonid Stark w ...
(1917–1918)
*
Lev Sosnovsky
Lev Semyonovich Sosnovsky (Russian: Лев Семёнович Сосновский) (1 January 18863 July 1937) was a Russian revolutionary, publicist and journalist. He was a prominent Trotskyist and member of the left opposition who was executed ...
(1918–1919)
*
Platon Kerzhentsev
Platon Mikhailovich Kerzhentsev (russian: Плато́н Миха́йлович Ке́рженцев), (real name Lebedev (Ле́бедев), pseudonym V. Kerzhentsev) (4 August 1881 – 2 June 1940) was a Soviet state and party official, rev ...
(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
Vladimir Petrovich Khatuntsev (russian: Владимир Петрович Хатунцев) (1916, Moscow – April 19, 1979, Moscow) was a Soviet journalist and news executive. He was head of the central Soviet news agency TASS in 1978–79.
Khat ...
(1978–79)
*
Sergei A. Losev (1979–88)
* Leonid Kravchenko (1988–90)
* Lev Spiridonov (1990–91)
*
Vitaly Ignatenko (1991–2012)
* Sergei Mikhailov (2012–present)
Notable journalists
*
Ștefan Foriș, Romanian communist correspondent
*
Vsevolod Kukushkin
Vsevolod Vladimirovich Kukushkin (russian: link=no, Всеволод Владимирович Кукушкин; born 3 May 1942) is a Russian journalist, writer and ice hockey administrator. He has written for ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'', TASS, RI ...
, ice hockey and sports correspondent (22 years)
See also
*
Propaganda in the Russian Federation
*
Eastern Bloc media and propaganda
Eastern Bloc media and propaganda was controlled directly by each country's communist party, which controlled the state media, censorship and propaganda organs. State and party ownership of print, television and radio media served as an important ...
* ''
Itar-Tass Russian News Agency v. Russian Kurier, Inc.
''Itar-Tass Russian News Agency v. Russian Kurier, Inc.'', 153 F.3d 82 (2d Cir. 1998), was a copyright case about the Russian language weekly ''Russian Kurier'' in New York City that had copied and published various materials from Russian newspaper ...
''
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:TASS
1902 establishments in the Russian Empire
1925 establishments in the Soviet Union
1992 establishments in Russia
Federal State Unitary Enterprises of Russia
News agencies based in Russia
Mass media companies of the Soviet Union
Companies based in Moscow
Mass media companies established in 1902
State media
Government-owned companies of Russia
Russian propaganda organizations