TASS: Difference between revisions

▲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]], 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'' ({{lang-ru|link=no|Сообщение ТАСС}}, ''Soobshchyeniye TASS'').

▲TASS included affiliated news agencies in all 14 Soviet republics in addition to Russia: RATAU ([[Ukrainian SSR]], now [[Ukrinform]]), [[Belarusian Telegraph Agency|BelTA]] ([[Byelorussian SSR]]), ETA ([[Estonian SSR]]), Latinform ([[Latvian SSR]], now [[LETA]]), [[ELTA]] ([[Lithuanian SSR]]), ATEM ([[Moldavian SSR]], now [[Moldpres]]), [[Armenpress]] ([[Armenian SSR]]), Gruzinform ([[Georgian SSR]]), Azerinform ([[Azerbaijan SSR]], now [[AZERTAC]]), UzTAG ([[Uzbek SSR]], now [[Uzbekistan National News Agency|UzA]]), KazTAG ([[Kazakh SSR]], now [[Kazinform]]), KyrTAG ([[Kyrgyz SSR]], now [[Kabar (news agency)|Kabar]]), Turkmeninform ([[Turkmen SSR]], now [[TDH (news agency)|TDH]]) and TajikTA ([[Tajik SSR]], now [[Khovar]]). Over the history other affiliates existed, e.g. KarelfinTAG for the [[Karelo-Finnish SSR]].{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} 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{{clarify|If access is restricted then "important" can't be the right term -- maybe "sensitive"?|date=August 2020}} 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hoffman |first=Erik P. |date=1984 |title=The Soviet Polity in the Modern Era |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63_obglArrMC |location=New York |publisher=[[DeGruyter]] |page=644 |isbn=0202241645 }}</ref>

▲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 agency was frequently used as a [[front organization]] by the Soviet intelligence agencies, such as the [[NKVD]] (later [[KGB]]) and [[GRU (Soviet Union)|Main Intelligence Directorate]], with TASS employees serving as [[informants]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kruglak |first=Theodore Eduard |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/32490 |title=The Two Faces of TASS |date=1962 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-3712-0 |location=Minneapolis}}</ref> In 1959, [[Alexander Alexeyev (diplomat)|Alexander Alexeyev]] was dispatched to Cuba on a fact-finding mission, ostensibly working for TASS.<ref>{{cite interview |last=Alexeyev |first=Alexander |title=Interview with Alexander Alekseyev [Soviet Ambassador to Cuba] |work=[[National Security Archive]] |publisher=[[George Washington University]] |url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB400/docs/Interview%20with%20Alekseev.pdf |access-date=30 March 2013}}</ref> Former [[Georgetown 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."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Atkinson |first=James David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I75sDwAAQBAJ |title=The Edge of War |date=2018-09-03 |publisher=Pickle Partners Publishing |isbn=978-1-78912-280-0 |language=en |oclc=1050955447}}</ref> TASS frequently served as a vector for Soviet [[active measures]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rid |first=Thomas |title=Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare |date=2020-04-21 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-71865-7 |language=en}}</ref>