TASS is Russia’s leading state news agency, and on September 1, 2023, the agency celebrated its 119th anniversary.
TASS is one of the most cited Russian news agencies*, publishing nearly 3,000 news items in six languages and about 700 photographs and videos from correspondents in Russia and across the world daily, forming a complete and objective picture of events. In 2022, more than 2.9 mln items of content in various formats were released across all TASS platforms, and more than 1.5 mln items were published in January-July 2023.
Almost 1,800 employees ensure the agency's operation in real time.
Regional information centers in St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg, in addition to dozens of offices in Russia’s regions, along with 56 global branches in 51 countries enable TASS to quickly receive and disseminate unbiased information about events in Russia and the world to the widest possible audience.
TASS is the only mass media outlet in the world that has its own news office in space, at the International Space Station. In 2021, the first TASS special correspondent, cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, took his post at the ISS, later replaced by Oleg Artemyev, and then Dmitry Petelin.
Deputy chief of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center Oleg Kononenko, commander of the cosmonaut squad of Roscosmos, will become the fourth TASS correspondent to serve at the ISS. He will go into orbit on September 15, 2023.
TASS subscribers, including Russian and foreign media, as well as federal and regional government bodies, diplomatic missions of foreign states, business structures and public organizations, have access to a wide range of topic-oriented services across 70 news feeds in all official UN languages - English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and French.
The TASS data bank contains tens of millions of documents, which allows the agency to accompany almost any news with comprehensive information about the event.
The agency's main digital product — tass.ru — is one of the largest online media outlets in Russia. In the first 8 months of 2023, its audience exceeded 95.4 million users. The number of unique visitors per month was more than 17 million. TASS content is featured on all social networks available in Russia. The number of unique subscribers in the first 8 months of this year surpassed 4.4 mln. TASS posts and videos amassed over 2.5 bln views.
State-of-the-art digital projects and media resources are being developed under the agency’s brand. Among them are the informational and educational project "This is the Caucasus," which describes daily life in the North Caucasus, and the "Newm" project, aimed at children and teenagers. Its short animated clips are posted on VKontakte, TikTok and YouTube. TASS also releases podcasts on various topics.
Among the most popular pieces are an audio guide of Moscow titled “The Romanovs on the verge of enthronement,” “Kuindzhi okhrip” (Kuindzhi lost his voice) about painting, “Gorod greshnikov” (The City of Sinners) commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Fyodor Dostoevsky and “Twelve friends of Jung” dedicated to Carl Gustav Jung’s theory about archetypes.
TASS editorial and partnership special projects - in-depth stories that present information in a variety of ways - won awards at prestigious Russian and international competitions, among them the Runet Award, For fidelity to science, MIXX Russia, Digital Communications Awards, European Design Awards, Horizon Interactive Аwards, Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards, Malofiej, Red Dot Design Award, SND Best of Digital, Silver Mercury festival and others.
The topics of special projects are devoted to various spheres of social life: history, volunteer work, music, search operations, space exploration, the construction of sports facilities, tourism and many others.
The agency’s employees regularly receive awards for their work. In 2022, they won nearly 190 awards and honors, and more than 160 over the first 8 months of 2023.
Mediabank TASS numbers nearly 43 mln pieces of content, including contemporary photographs and video reports by TASS correspondents in Russia and abroad, as well as materials from the agency's Russian and foreign partners, along with stock photos, infographics and archived photographs from the end of the 19th century.
TASS is active in the development of information technology, with its key contributions here – platforms for distributing information-analytical and visual content.
The news terminal and mediabank offer users broad technical capabilities in working with large volumes of various data. TASS is also a leader in media marketing, including on its website tass.ru.
TASS holds over 1,500 press events annually. They are attended by Russian and foreign political leaders, representatives of the largest Russian and foreign companies, as well as prominent figures from the world of culture, science and sports.
TASS hosts major business events, inviting key experts, opinion shapers, top officials and CEOs, scientists and cultural figures to discuss important global and domestic issues.
TASS.Conferences is the organizer of more than 600 high-profile business events in offline and online formats. Among them are a series of events titled “What SPIEF left behind” and the presentation of the National Investment Climate Ranking in Russian federal subjects as part of SPIEF-2023, the Forum “Russian Entrepreneurship 2023: Window of Opportunity," the 18th International festival of scientific and technical creativity of children and youth “Let's get it started (ot vinta)!”, the session “Neural networks at the service of cyber security: pros and cons” as part of the conference “Digital industry of industrial Russia,” and educational seminar “The school of regional journalism.” TASS was also the coordinator of the business program at the II International Construction Championship.
In 2022, TASS was an information partner for nearly 170 national events, and over the first 8 months of 2023 the agency supported more than 90 events.
TASS has a unique educational center – the Academy of News. Its training programs are designed specifically for journalists, content managers, PR and press service staff.
TASS maintains partnerships with more than 200 media sources from 112 countries.
TASS takes an active role in the work of major global and regional media associations, being a member of the World Media Summit (WMS), News Agencies World Congress (NAWC), the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA), and the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA).
The agency also cooperates with the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA), the Atlantic Federation of African News Agencies (FAAPA) and other regional associations of global news agencies.
A TASS representative heads the Russian National Committee at the UNESCO International Program for the Development of Communication, and has a seat on the UNESCO Intergovernmental Council on Information and Communications and the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO.
TASS’ Director General has chaired the CIS Council of Heads of State News Agencies (CIS Information Council) since its creation.
TASS established the World Association of Russian Press (WARP) — the only global association of Russian-speaking journalists.
TASS offers the following services as part of its work in the IT field:
- Access to photographs, as well as copyrighted content from the TASS Mediabank (on the basis of an agreement);
- Access to information materials, as well as copyrighted content from the TASS Terminal (on the basis of an agreement);
- Publication and distribution of advertisements on its website.
* according to Medialogy data for 2022