ITAR-TASS, (Russian: “Information Telegraph Agency of Russia–Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union”), Russian news agency formed in 1992 after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. ITAR reports on domestic news, while TASS reports on world events, including news from the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Russia’s first news agency, the St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency, was formed under the direction of Emperor Nikolai II in 1904. It was renamed the Petrograd Telegraph Agency in 1914. From 1918 to 1925 it served as the first revolutionary news agency and was known as the Russian Telegraph Agency, or ROSTA. Renamed TASS in 1925, the organization was the official news agency of the Soviet Union until 1991. It also was one of the world’s major international wire services, distributing news throughout the Soviet Union and the rest of the world. Until the breakup of the Soviet Union, TASS was responsible to the Council of Ministers. Its extensive national news networks were the main source of news for all Soviet newspapers and radio and television stations. It had news bureaus and correspondents in more than 100 countries, and its international clients included the wire services of most developed Western nations as well as eastern European and developing countries. Around the world, news was transmitted in Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, and Arabic. TASS dispatched on matters of public policy, and its coverage of international affairs reflected the official position of the state.
After it was renamed ITAR-TASS in 1992, the agency continued to operate more than 130 news bureaus or offices in Russia and around the world. The agency also maintains an electronic data bank, INFO-TASS, which processes current and historical material on Russia and CIS member states.