Russian News Agency TASS is a major news agency in Russia with a history that goes back to the year 1904. TASS has nearly 140 offices across Russia and in the world. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the agency was renamed Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS), but in 2014 it got back its simpler name, TASS.
Media assets
News agency: TASS
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
TASS is a company 100% owned by the Federal Government of Russia, according to Russian media experts interviewed for this report. The government appoints the agency’s top management.
Source of funding and budget
Although it generates advertising revenues, TASS is majority financed by the Russian government. In 2020, it received a state subsidy worth some RUB 2.9bn (US$ 40.3m), according to media reports. In 2021, the agency received RUB 3.1bn. The following year, its state funding allocation increased to nearly RUB 4bn, according to media reports.
Editorial independence
TASS is the official news agency of the Russian government. During communism, the agency was closely connected with Russia’s intelligence services, many of its journalists also serving as informants back then.
TASS still operates as a news agency completely under the editorial control of the government, following its editorial requests and guidelines, according to Russian experts and various academic and NGO studies. These conclusions have been confirmed by ad hoc content analysis.
No domestic statute and no mechanism of independent assessment or oversight to validate TASS’ editorial independence have been identified.
October 2023