Russia's state news agency ITAR-TASS has just rebranded itself and will be known by its old, Soviet-era name TASS. Founded in 1925, the Telegraph Agency Of The Soviet Union was responsible for all news content for radio, television, and print media. It became ITAR-TASS in 1992 after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Soviet Media Powerhouse: TASS Through The Ages
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TASS grew out of the St. Petersburg Telegraphic Agency, which was founded in 1904 and was the main news service of imperial Russia. The agency's first director was Pavel Miller (pictured here), a senior official in Russia's Finance Ministry.
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TASS journalists in a Moscow newsroom in 1933.
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TASS workers and members of the Komsomol, the communist youth league, during preparations for a parade of athletes in Moscow in 1934.
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During World War II, TASS regularly posted news on walls for people to read.
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A TASS editorial team in 1958
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In 1960, Muscovites read information about the trial of Francis Gary Powers, an American pilot who was shot down in his spy plane over the Soviet Union.
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TASS photojournalists in 1962
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A teletype room in Moscow, where news was distributed and received
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TASS built an underground operations room so the agency could function in the event of an emergency. It was situated 50 meters underground and is pictured here in 1959.
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A military vehicle outside the TASS headquarters in Moscow in August 1991 during the attempted coup to unseat Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
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TASS's foreign news desk in 1994
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ITAR-TASS's headquarters in Moscow in 2013.