TASS

abbreviation of Telegrafnoe Agentsvo Sovetskovo Soyuza (Russian: Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union), official news agency of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. Tass was one of the world's major international wire services, distributing news throughout the Soviet Union and the rest of the world. It was established by the Soviet government in 1925 to replace the first Revolutionary news agency, Rosta, which had taken over the tsarist news agency in Petrograd (St. Petersburg). Until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, 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 Third World countries. International service was transmitted in Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, and Arabic. Tass dispatched on matters of public policy, and international affairs reflected the official position of the state. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Tass was reorganized into two branches: the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia, or ITAR, reporting on news of Russia; and the Telegraph Agency of the Countries of the Commonwealth, or Tass, reporting on news of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.