Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union
Encyclopedia
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
stations. It had a monopoly on official state information which was delivered in the form of TASS Report .
It was established on 25 July 1925 by a decree Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was a Soviet governmental institution – a permanent body of the Supreme Soviets . This body was of the all-Union level , as well as in all Soviet republics and autonomous republics...
of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Tass was created from the Russian Telegraph Agency
Russian Telegraph Agency
Russian Telegraph Agency , abbr. Rosta was the state news agency in Soviet Russia . After the creation of Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union in 1925, it remained the news agency of Soviet Russia...
(ROSTA), the first state news agency in Soviet Russia
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
. The agency was frequently infiltrated by the Soviet intelligence and security agencies, the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
and GRU
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
. Many of its employees also voluntarily served as information sources of intelligence to the NKVD (later, the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
).
After 1971, TASS was elevated to the status of State Committee at the Government of the Soviet Union
Government of the Soviet Union
The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was the de jure government comprising the highest executive and administrative body of the Soviet Union from 1946 until 1991....
. Tass had affiliates in 14 Union republics (Russian republic was covered by Tass itself):
- RATAU ' onMouseout='HidePop("47961")' href="/topics/Ukrainian_SSR">Ukrainian SSRUkrainian SSRThe Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
) - BelTABelarusian Telegraph AgencyThe Belarusian Telegraph Agency or BelTA is the state-owned national news agency of the Republic of Belarus. It operates in the Russian and Belarusian languages....
' onMouseout='HidePop("74531")' href="/topics/Byelorussian_SSR">Byelorussian SSRByelorussian SSRThe Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was one of fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union. It was one of the four original founding members of the Soviet Union in 1922, together with the Ukrainian SSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
) - UzTAG ' onMouseout='HidePop("25160")' href="/topics/Uzbek_SSR">Uzbek SSRUzbek SSRThe Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Uzbek SSR for short, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union since its creation in 1924...
) - KazTAG ' onMouseout='HidePop("75788")' href="/topics/Kazakh_SSR">Kazakh SSRKazakh SSRThe Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Kazakh SSR for short, was one of republics that made up the Soviet Union.At in area, it was the second largest constituent republic in the USSR, after the Russian SFSR. Its capital was Alma-Ata . Today it is the independent state of...
) - Gruzinform
- Azerinform ' onMouseout='HidePop("78301")' href="/topics/Azerbaijan_SSR">Azerbaijan SSRAzerbaijan SSRThe Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Azerbaijan SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union....
) - ELTAELTAELTA is a Lithuanian news agency based in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.ELTA was founded in 1920 in Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania, by Juozas Eretas, the first director of the agency, a literature professor, publicist, and public figure of Swiss descent who sought to make the ELTA...
' onMouseout='HidePop("30187")' href="/topics/Lithuanian_SSR">Lithuanian SSRLithuanian SSRThe Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
) - ATEM ' onMouseout='HidePop("80815")' href="/topics/Moldavian_SSR">Moldavian SSRMoldavian SSRThe Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic , commonly abbreviated to Moldavian SSR or MSSR, was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union...
) - Latinform ' onMouseout='HidePop("82072")' href="/topics/Latvian_SSR">Latvian SSRLatvian SSRThe Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by...
), current LETALETALETA is the main Latvian news agency. Its headquarters are in Riga.- History :It was founded as Latopress in 1919, soon after Latvia became independent; the name was changed to LTA the next year when the wire service was subordinated to the Latvian Telegraph Agency... - KyrTAG
- TajikTA ' onMouseout='HidePop("85842")' href="/topics/Tajik_SSR">Tajik SSRTajik SSRThe Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Tajik SSR for short, was one of the 15 republics that made up the Soviet Union. Located in Central Asia, the Tajik SSR was created on 5 December 1929 as a national entity for the Tajik people within the Soviet Union...
) - Armenpress ' onMouseout='HidePop("61785")' href="/topics/Armenian_SSR">Armenian SSRArmenian SSRThe Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet...
) - Turkmeninform ' onMouseout='HidePop("63042")' href="/topics/Turkmen_SSR">Turkmen SSRTurkmen SSRThe Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Turkmen SSR for short, was one of republics of the Soviet Union in Central Asia. It was initially established on 7 August 1921 as the Turkmen Oblast of the Turkestan ASSR. On 13 May 1925 it was transformed into Turkmen SSR and became a...
) - ETA
Over the history other affiliates existed, e.g., KarelfinTAG (КарелфинТАГ), or Telegraph Agency of the Karelo-Finnish SSR
Karelo-Finnish SSR
The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was a short-lived republic that was a part of the former Soviet Union. The republic existed from 1940 until it was merged back into the Russian SFSR in 1956 ....
.
TASS had bureaus and reporters in 110 countries, with a daily output equal to 750 newspaper pages, translated into eight (non-Soviet) languages. It had nearly 5000 employees, with about a fifth being journalists.
TASS had the following Main Editorial Boards: Main Editorial Board of Union Information, of Foreign Information, of Socialist Countries, of Information for Foreign Countries, of Photoinformation and Main Directorate of Communications.
In 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
, it was inherited by the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia
Information Telegraph Agency of Russia
The Information Telegraph Agency of Russia , is the major news agency of Russia. It is headquartered in Moscow.- History :Its origin is in a letter sent by Finance Minister Vladimir Kokovtsov to foreign minister in March 1904 writing that "our trade and industrial circles, as well as the Finance...
(ITAR-TASS).