ITAR-TASS is a major Russian news agency established in 1904. It has over 130 bureaus worldwide and provides real-time news in six languages through its online and print services. The agency's general director highlighted ITAR-TASS's century of history informing the world on major events and its priority of precise reporting. ITAR-TASS continues innovating its operations to better serve its growing subscriber base through new technologies and expanded coverage.

1. NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY
FA2005
Itar-Tass News Agency
PRESENTED BY:
NAJA FAYSAL
#20-028058
PRESENTED TO:
DR. NAJAH ABDULLAH
COURSE:
MASS MEDIA ESSENTIALS (COA201)

2. Outline:
I. Introduction:
a. Definition
b. Date
c. Basics
d. Founder
e. Director
II. Body:
a. ITAR-TASS vision by the general director
b. ITAR-TASS now
c. Other services
III. Conclusion
a. Summary
b. Personal opinion

3. Definition and Basics:
ITAR-TASS News Agency is one of the world’s largest international information
agencies. It was established in September 1, 1904 as the St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency
(SPTA) where it became the first official news agency of Russia. The creation of the
agency was initiated by the Finance, Interior and Foreign Ministries.
In August 1914, its name was changed to be: Petersburg Telegraph Agency (PTA)
instead of St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency (SPTA). In November 1917, the PTA
reported the Bolshevik revolution and it was immediately wired to the whole world and
in the same month the PTA became the central government information agency.
In March 1918, it moved to Moscow and in June, it merged with the Press bureau of the
government. In September the government presidium resolved to rename PTA and the
Press bureau into the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA). ROSTA became "the central
information agency of the whole Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic"
On July 10, 1925 the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) was founded and
took over the main functions of the Russian Telegraph Agency as the central information
agency of the country. 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". TASS comprised news agencies of all the Soviet republics. TASS
news and photos were received by 4,000 Soviet newspapers, TV and radio stations and
over a thousand foreign media outlets. The news agency ran one of the biggest networks
of correspondents in the world - 682 offices in the country and 94 bureaus abroad, and
employed close to 2,000 journalists and photo correspondents…
The news agency was named the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS)
in January 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the proclamation of
sovereignty by democratic Russia. Today ITAR-TASS is a major world news agency and
preserves the status of the central state information agency of the country.

4. ITAR-TASS’ General Director now is “Vitaly Ignatenko", one of the most experienced
men in the field.
Body:
According to the general director of ITAR-TASS “Vitaly Ignatenko”, ITAR-TASS
believes in the mixture between the understandings of the connection to the history of the
country and the responsibility before thousands of our partners for who their information
was always useful. He added that the century-long history of the news agency adds
specific weight to ITAR-TASS reports that cover the golden age of the Russian empire,
the 1917 Revolution, the World War II, and modern transformations in society. It was
TASS to inform the mankind about the first manned flight to space, and the news agency
was always among the first to cover the vital world events of the 20th century. A certain
TASS standard has formed in a hundred years, which mostly focuses on precise, balanced
and urgent information. ITAR-TASS also maintains broad international relations not only
to our wide network of correspondents on all the five continents of the planet. ITAR-
TASS is a corporate member and an active participant in international pools and alliances
of news agencies.
“Together, with our colleagues from the professional international organizations we work
to design the optimal rules and conditions for a free distribution of objective information
in the modern world” he said.
ITAR-TASS constantly works to expand the list of subscribers and to suit the demands of
major national publications, news agencies and TV channels, as well as of small regional
media outlets. It closely cooperates with authorities, political parties and movements,
public and humanitarian organizations, government ministries and business structures.
The potential of its news agency can quench any information thirst.
The agency’s resources are now available to anyone, both within and outside Russia.
Mass media, academic institutions, organizations, and private individuals are subscribers
of Itar-Tass news agency.

5. Through its work, the agency has developed a new set of priorities designed to streamline
and improve key aspects of its operation in order to better serve a growing number of
subscribers. These operations include: How topics are selected, expansion of news
coverage, and timely delivery of news on the wire. As the very nature of news production
continues to evolve, the agency continually make use of the very latest available
technologies in order to make real-time news distribution faster and more efficient.
ITAR-TASS relies on a widespread net of correspondents. Currently, it has more than
130 bureaus and offices in Russia and abroad. ITAR-TASS also cooperates with more
than 80 foreign news agencies. ITAR-TASS' editorial and other desks process
information from correspondents, check and analyze facts, and translate into five foreign
languages.
ITAR-TASS has accumulated a rich body of experience throughout the course of its 100-
year history. The agency's widespread network of correspondents, its modern means of
distributing and storing information, and a well-oiled mechanism of cooperation between
its editorial, reference and reporter departments, all enable ITAR-TASS to provide quick
and full coverage of all kinds of events shaping Russia and the world.
ITAR-TASS offers today 45 round-the-clock news cycles in six languages and more than
40 information bulletins.
The agency also operates a photo service, the largest of its kind in Russia. This unique
service offers pictures of the latest breaking developments, available for prompt
transmission in digital form. Clients also have access to an extremely rich photo archive
dating back to the beginning of the 20th century.
Also available is the INFO-TASS electronic data bank, which contains all agency
materials produced since 1987, multimedia products, and unique reference books on
Russia and other CIS member states, which are regularly updated. On a daily basis,
ITAR-TASS produces and transmits to its subscribers around the world materials that can
cover 300 newspaper pages.

6. ITAR-TASS also offers an online service (TASS-ONLINE.com) which is a new
interactive sales service of selling ITAR-TASS products and services. TASS-
ONLINE.com is the online sales service that makes the process of subscription to ITAR-
TASS news cycles and bulletins quick and easy.
TASS-ONLINE.com includes two modules:
Online Store, where you can read the detailed description of products and
services, get a free trial, place your order and pay it by credit card or get an
invoice for bank transfer.
Access to Products System that provides immediate access to the chosen news
products.
Conclusion:
ITAR-TASS is one hundred years old now. However, the news agency remains young
and entered the year of 2005 with an inspired soul and major optimism. ITAR-TASS high
professional skills will help us respond to all the challenges of the 21st century.
I do share the General Director his pride of the successful age of ITAR-TASS news
agency and I hope I could in these few pages show the importance of this agency across
history and how news agencies can really have a great influence on our lives. Today news
has become a part of our lives and we depend on news agencies to get the truth. This
shows the important role that news agencies can play in affecting the future of
civilizations.