TASS as an instrument of domestic information policy in the 20th century

Sedova Ekaterina Sergeevna Postgraduate student; Faculty of Public Administration; Lomonosov Moscow State University 119234, Russia, Moscow, Ramenki district, Lomonosovsky prospekt, 27 K. 4 Katherina_S@mail.ru Naumov Alexander Olegovich ORCID: 0000-0002-8366-5934 Doctor of History Professor; Faculty of Public Administration; Lomonosov Moscow State University 119234, Russia, Moscow, Ramenki district, Lomonosovsky prospekt, 27 K. 4 naumovao@my.msu.ru

Yatsenko Elena Vladimirovna Postgraduate student; Faculty of Public Administration; Lomonosov Moscow State University 119234, Russia, Moscow, Ramenki district, Lomonosovsky prospekt, 27 K. 4 m264@mail.ru

In the modern world, global media are full-fledged participants in global political processes. They form a certain discourse that hundreds of millions of people are guided by, influence international public opinion and decisions made at the highest political level. Due to the development of the sphere of communications, states are forced to "defend their national interests in the information sphere" ^{[1, p. 25]}. The media and organizations that operate in the information space are active in the foreign policy arena. Nation-states have long been paying great attention to the formation and development of their own media structures and media outlets that could influence the perception of information by other actors in world politics. In this regard, we can mention such major international news agencies as Reuters, the Associated Press, France Presse, Xinhua and others. Throughout the 20th century, TASS was a similar structure in our country.

The object of this article is the Telegraphic Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS), the subject is its evolution as an instrument of national information policy in the 20th century. The key scientific research methods are integrated and systematic approaches that combine the principles of historicism and scientific objectivity. The integrated approach made it possible to chronologically analyze the agency's evolution and identify the impact of internal and external factors on the agency's development. The systematic approach is implemented through the consideration of TASS as an institution of the state information and propaganda system, as well as an analysis of its interaction with other institutions. The principle of historicism is to consider the development of TASS, the work traced the evolution from the agency's predecessors to the current state and considered the continuity in this development. The principle of scientific objectivity is implemented through the analysis of sources, consideration of various points of view, verification of data and avoidance of value judgments. The analysis of more than a century of experience of the largest Russian (Soviet) information agency seems to be extremely significant and relevant, especially in the context of the information war that has been unleashed against the Russian Federation in recent years by the countries of the collective West.

The source base of the research is legislative acts related to the functioning of TASS in various historical periods, as well as directly official materials and publications of the agency in digital format. ^{[2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7]}. As for scientific discourse, such issues did not often come to the attention of Russian authors. Thus, B.I. Yesin considered the forerunners of TASS in the form of pre–revolutionary news agencies of the second half of the XIX - early XX century ^[8]. E.G. Kostrikova in the monograph "Information policy of the Russian government during the First World War and the Revolution. 1914-1917." analyzed the transformation of the St. Petersburg Telegraphic Agency into the Petrograd Telegraphic Agency in the conditions of the First World War and the revolutions of 1917, paying special attention to the mechanisms of censorship and propaganda ^[9]. M. Babyuk studied the early Soviet period of the functioning of TASS in the international arena ^[10]. V.A. Nevezhin in the article "I.V. Stalin on foreign policy and diplomacy: based on the materials of the personal archive of the leader (1939-1941)," revealed the role of TASS in the Stalin era, considering it as a tool of ideological struggle ^[11]. N.A. Dushkova, together with other authors, analyzed the visual propaganda of TASS during the Great Patriotic War ^[12]. V.V. Bityutskaya studied the mechanisms of operation of one One of the key divisions of TASS in the second half of the 20th century was the Main Editorial Office of Information for Abroad (GRIDZ) ^{[13; 14]}. Finally, E.A. Slabkovskaya paid attention to the modern principles of TASS editorial policy ^[15]. Thus, it can be stated that today there are scientific publications in Russian historiography, mainly devoted to chronologically limited periods of TASS's work or highly specialized aspects of the agency's functioning. A comprehensive study of the activities of the Telegraphic Agency of the Soviet Union has not yet been conducted. This article is intended to partially close this gap.

The historical stages of the formation of TASS as an instrument of the foreign information policy of the Soviet Union, and then of the Russian Federation, are associated with the evolution from the central organ of Soviet propaganda to a large holding company in modern Russia, which continues to actively participate in communicating domestic narratives to the foreign public. However, TASS is not a pioneer in this field. Back in 1866, the Russian Telegraphic Agency (RTA) was established in St. Petersburg, which existed for more than 10 years with interruptions. Russians Russian journalism and press researcher B.I. Yesin noted, "Initially, the Russian Telegraph Agency was only supposed to distribute foreign political and commercial information on the territory of Russia. His functions were limited to transmitting information to local organizations, newspaper editorial offices, and individuals by special agreement between them"^{[8, p. 33]}. Then the RTA itself began to collect internal information, which other regional agencies later began to do. The Russian Telegraph Agency worked together with the German Wolf Telegraph Bureau to receive information from abroad, as well as to be able to broadcast news from Russia. The Wolf Telegraph Bureau had a monopoly on the dissemination of Russian information abroad, prohibiting its transmission to others. There was no Russian agency that could compete with such a giant.

In 1902, the Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire, S.Y. Witte, announced the need to create a state agency that would have information on trade, industry and agriculture. For this purpose, a Trade and Telegraphic Agency was formed, and two years later, the St. Petersburg Telegraphic Agency (SPTA). The date of its foundation – September 1, 1904 – is considered the beginning of the history of TASS. The main task of the SPTA was to disseminate relevant information both in the country and abroad. In addition to the main information reports, there were secret bulletins that were passed on to senior Russian officials. This made it possible to ensure the unity of the official discourse and raise awareness of what was happening in foreign policy. The information disseminated by SPTA was received not only by foreign newspapers and magazines, but also by news agencies. Thanks to the work of the St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency, as early as 1904, Russia was able to independently disseminate information about the situation in domestic industry and trade, and the internal policy of the Russian Empire as a whole.

Initially, the SPTA was under the jurisdiction of three departments (finance, internal Affairs and foreign Affairs), but since 1910 the agency has been subordinated to the Council of Ministers, after which the influence of the state on its information policy has increased. The tasks of the SPTA included the dissemination of basic information about the actions of the tsarist government on the foreign policy circuit, which became the basis for shaping the image of the country in the world. It should be noted that the principles and formats of the St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency formed the basis for the functioning of the leading actors of Russian foreign information policy throughout the 20th century. They included the principle of round-the-clock operation, the presence of correspondent offices in Russia and abroad, the provision of information to other publications on the rights of its owner, etc. By the beginning of the First World War, the staff of the SPTA had increased significantly, 46 foreign representative offices and 13 regional offices were opened, and funding increased from 20 thousand rubles in 1904 to 716 thousand rubles in 1914 ^[2]. In 1915, the SPTA was renamed the Petrograd Telegraph Agency. In general, as E.G. Kostrikova, a researcher on the issue, rightly emphasizes, during the First World War, the agency was the main source of news about events at the front and in the rear for the press. In addition, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the PTA launched active work in neutral countries, countering enemy propaganda and spreading positive information about Russia ^{[9, p. 68]}. Information for publication in Russia was strictly controlled: "telegrams were immediately sent to the senior editor for review, and then checked and processed by the other editors" ^{[9, p. 67]}. Then a decision was made on the place of publication and the information was sent to government agencies.

During the 1917 revolution, one of the first facilities captured by the Bolsheviks was the SPTA, which was taken under control by a detachment of sailors led by Commissar of the Military Revolutionary Committee L. Stark. On October 25, 1917, it was from there that information about the change of power in Russia was transmitted to all foreign publications. According to a decree of the Council of People's Commissars, the Petrograd Telegraph Agency became the central information agency under it. On September 7, 1918, the agency merged with the Press Bureau of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, receiving the name of the Russian Telegraph Agency under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (abbreviated ROSTA), and later moved to Moscow.

By 1919, ROSTA had a network of correspondent points that received and transmitted decrees, summaries, and official information from the Bolshevik government in the form of radio messages. Gradually, the subject of such radio messages expanded to include news of a general political and cultural nature. ROSTA became a large agency with 10 departments, producing a number of publications throughout the country. The most common format was the satirical posters "Windows of Growth", which were created by M. Cheremnykh, V. Mayakovsky, D. Moore, I. Malyutin and other famous representatives of the Soviet creative intelligentsia ^[5]. The posters were dedicated to topical topics and hung on shop windows in Moscow and other cities ^[2]. The variety of formats made it possible to educate the population, combining this with ideological work, and the satirical way of presenting information strengthened the emotional connection with the audience. By 1924, the agency had its own correspondent network abroad, and an information exchange agreement was signed with the British Reuters, the French Havas and the Vienna Official News Agency. This helped to integrate into the global media system and greatly facilitated the ability to broadcast Soviet narratives even in countries with which diplomatic relations had not been established. The agency's materials on achievements in science and technology, art, social development, and various interesting facts about life in the USSR made it possible to create an attractive image of the young Soviet state in the world.

In addition to print formats, the agency also worked with audio content. So, already in 1921, in Kazan, and then in Moscow, the Oral Newspaper of GROWTH began to sound, which repeated the already published news from 21:00 to 23:00 in the central squares of Soviet cities. On November 23, 1924, the issue of the Radio Newspaper of GROWTH was broadcast with its own stories, news agenda and independent editorial policy. There were also music releases, posters, poems, and interesting facts. The Radio Newspaper was broadcast twice a day to the whole country. In general, the agency not only informed Soviet citizens about the events of the country's domestic policy in order to strengthen the power of the Bolsheviks, but also constructed a positive foreign policy image of the USSR and strengthened its influence in foreign countries.

The Telegraph Agency of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (TASS) was established in accordance with the Regulations on the Telegraph Agency of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (TASS), issued in a Resolution of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR on July 10, 1925.. Among other things, the agency was tasked with popularizing the Soviet way of life and the socialist path of development abroad, as well as explaining the foreign policy of the Soviet state ^{[16, p. 106]}. According to the document, TASS has received monopoly powers to collect and distribute news both domestically and abroad. At the same time, similar structures in the Union republics were part of it, but could only operate within the respective republics (BelTA in Belarus, RATAU in Ukraine, etc.). This made it possible to centrally form a unified information policy and ideological narratives, excluding alternative points of view. In addition, TASS had the exclusive right to conclude agreements with foreign news agencies, as well as independently set tariffs for its materials, including those that were broadcast through radio channels.

The telegraph Agency under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee completely ceased to exist only in 1935, but its functions gradually passed to TASS from 1925. It inherited a network of correspondent offices from its predecessor, and during this period foreign offices and offices performed not only informational functions, but also, as the domestic researcher M. Babyuk correctly notes, "they had to form a positive image of the Soviet Union in a difficult foreign policy situation, to broadcast the necessary narratives both outside and inside the country" ^{[10, p. 41]}. Due to the fact that legally the USSR was not the founder of these points, work was also possible in unfriendly states. Agreements with Western agencies, in turn, made it possible to widely disseminate materials about the achievements of the Soviet Union during the construction of communism in a single country. Correspondents wrote about cooperation in agriculture, the fight against banditry and diseases, successes in eliminating illiteracy, etc. The leading place in the flow of information was occupied by reports on industrialization and the largest construction projects in the country, including the construction of the Moscow Metro, the Dnieper hydroelectric power station, the Chelyabinsk and Stalingrad Tractor Plants, the Gorky Automobile Plant and others ^[3]. However, it is worth noting that this work was not carried out on a large scale for objective and subjective reasons (lack of human and financial resources, lack of proven schemes for effective impact, especially in the hostile environment of capitalist countries).

On March 30, 1934, the famous phrase "TASS is authorized to declare" appeared for the first time in the newspapers Pravda and Izvestia, which later became a phraseological unit ^{[17, p. 26]}. It was used for official statements by the country's leadership on international topics, as well as the agency's comments and responses to events quoted in other publications. According to researchers, some of these texts were prepared with the direct participation of I.V. Stalin^{[11, p. 63]}. The most significant information materials required coordination at the highest level: they were approved by resolutions of the Politburo and the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b). TASS continued to work with leading Western news agencies, combining control in the internal information field with the active promotion of Soviet ideas abroad. Through symbolic narratives and beneficial strategic partnerships, the agency shaped the image of the USSR in the international arena as a progressive power with rapid industrial and socio-economic development.

During the Great Patriotic War, TASS organized a front-line editorial office, correspondents worked on the front line and created reports from the rear, spreading information for both Soviet and foreign publications. The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union paid great attention to exposing and making public the crimes of the Nazis by publishing materials about the atrocities of the fascist invaders in the occupied territories. The agency's counter-propaganda department, together with the Soviet Information Bureau and the All-Union Radio Committee, promoted the anti-Hitler agenda in neutral countries and among allies ^[18]. TASS offices abroad also actively continued their work, bringing Moscow's point of view on the dramatic events of that time to a foreign audience. Each office operated independently, taking into account regional specifics (the London office, for example, issued the bulletin The Soviet Monitor, distributing materials to the British media and government agencies). These actions helped to form a positive image of the USSR as the main fighter against fascism, which, of course, strengthened Moscow's geopolitical position.

One of the agency's most successful projects during the war years was the Windows of TASS, propaganda posters designed to raise the morale of the Soviet people. Already on June 27, 1941, they were exhibited in a building on the Kuznetsky Bridge in Moscow, where a workshop for their manufacture was located. In the first month, 119 posters with a circulation of 7,200 copies were released. Further, the "Windows of TASS" began to spread in all major cities of the USSR ^{[19, p. 18]}. In the Moscow branch of the agency alone, 125 graphic artists and 83 writers worked on the creation of propaganda posters, combining satire, patriotism and historical parallels in their works ^[20]. Contemporaries compared the emotional power of these works with the legendary composition "The Holy War" by A. Alexandrov and Symphony No. 7 by D. Shostakovich. During the war years, the capital's editorial office produced about 1.5 thousand propaganda posters, the total circulation of which exceeded two million copies. "On some color posters, the most important news from the front was conveyed in a civil-patriotic form, events in the rear or in the world were highlighted, on others, the fascist occupiers and their leaders who organized the attack on the USSR were ridiculed in caricature form" ^{[12, p. 68]}. They were stationed at the front, in the rear, even in the occupied territories (the partisans, for example, managed to paste "TASS Windows" on the Gestapo building in occupied Kharkov).

During the Great Patriotic War, the work of the agency's photojournalists continued, whose photographs reflected not only the heroism of the Soviet soldier, but also became irrefutable evidence of the crimes of the Nazis, including those used at the Nuremberg Tribunal. With the help of photography, both visual images of the victories of the Red Army and pictures of the sufferings of the Soviet people were created for internal and external audiences. A large number of legendary photographs from the time of the war were taken by TASS correspondents; among them, a special place is occupied by the photograph with the installation of the Victory Banner over the Reichstag in the spring of 1945 by E. Khaldei. These materials not only formed powerful historical narratives for decades to come, but even then they strengthened the moral authority of the USSR in the international arena.

It is worth saying that TASS made another, purely practical, contribution to the victory over Nazism. Thus, the agency's specialists upgraded the radio interception system, listening to and analyzing the broadcast on different waves in 18 languages, including German and Japanese, which made it possible to quickly respond to events and provide the Soviet leadership with strategic data.

In general, during the Great Patriotic War, the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union not only informed, but also shaped the media and ideological agenda. Inside the country, the mobilization of forces in the fight against the Nazi invaders was carried out with the help of posters, radio broadcasts, and reports. The image of the USSR as the main defender of mankind from the "brown plague" was popularized in the international arena. The work was also carried out from a historical perspective: Visual and textual materials were created, which became the basis of post-war historiography and anti-fascist ideology.

In the post-war period, TASS became a key instrument of the Russian foreign information policy, combining propaganda, cultural diplomacy and innovative technological solutions that corresponded to the capabilities of the time. In the international arena, the agency constructed the image of the USSR as a developing and peace-loving power, a responsible player in world politics. TASS actively disseminated materials about the restoration of industry, successes in space and comprehensive social programs, emphasizing the country's technological leadership and the advantages of the socialist model of development. On April 12, 1961, it was the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union that spread the news about the launch into orbit of the world's first manned spacecraft Vostok with Yuri Gagarin on board. The news, created in extreme secrecy, became a worldwide sensation in a matter of hours. The document, delivered by special mail in a sealed envelope, was kept in a safe until the Kremlin officially authorized its publication. After 2 hours and 20 minutes, TASS supplemented the news with a message about the safe landing of the ship. Two alternative versions of the news remained unclaimed in the archives: one with a request for international assistance in case of an emergency landing, the other in case of the death of an astronaut ^[6]. Such preparation of various versions vividly emphasized the strategic importance of information as an instrument of international influence, and the event itself became a reference example of using TASS resources to form a positive image of the USSR on the world stage.

In the following years, the agency underwent internal transformations that were in line with the spirit of the times. Since 1961, for example, an editorial system with collegial leadership has been introduced instead of departmental departments. Specialized editorial offices appeared – sports and foreign trade, and the latter launched the ECOTASS commercial bulletin, which became a stage in the monetization of information ^{[13, p. 176]}. In accordance with Resolution No. 927 of December 3, 1966 approving the regulations on the Telegraphic Agency of the Soviet Union under the Council of Ministers of the USSR (TASS), the role of TASS as the central information agency of the USSR was approved. The number of foreign branches grew from 47 in 1958 to 94 in 1966; they mainly opened in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The agency adapted to new technologies, used the rapid transmission of photographs, but still lagged behind Western competitors in speed and coverage of events. The issue of budgeting remained among the difficulties; in this regard, a strategy for information commercialization turned out to be appropriate, which involved paying for access to TASS materials for foreign counterparties.

In the 1970s, the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union became one of the four largest world agencies along with Reuters, the Associated Press and France Presse. Materials produced and distributed by TASS, especially regarding events abroad and official orders of the Soviet government, were received by all media of the USSR, as well as leading news agencies, newspapers and radio stations around the world. The messages were promptly delivered to various government structures, became the basis for analytical and statistical reports, influenced the political agenda and decisions made by top officials (only members of the Politburo of the CPSU, as well as the country's top leadership, received the appropriate compilation). During the Cold War, special attention was paid to maintaining the image of the USSR as an advanced, peace-loving and progressive country. TASS played a key role in opposing Western ideological attitudes, using commercial mechanisms, as well as successfully competing with foreign media giants.

By this time, TASS already had more than 20 information distribution channels, each of which had a certain circle of subscribers, and specialized editorial offices were functioning, including the Main Editorial Office of Foreign Information (GRI) and the Main Editorial Office of Information for Abroad (GRIDZ). Their powers and responsibilities were strictly delimited in accordance with government policy: GRIDZ was focused on translating materials for a foreign audience, worked with correspondents around the world on preparing materials for an external audience, and GRIDZ collected and processed information from abroad for use in the Soviet Union. In 1972, its own radio center was established, which allowed it to receive and analyze information and messages from global media companies. At the same time, the use of a teletype began, which made it possible to transmit telegraphic codes and read them at high speed. The volume of information produced and processed by the Telegraphic Agency of the Soviet Union has increased one and a half times in five years, and in connection with this, an Automated System for Collecting, Processing and Distributing Messages (ASOS) was developed in 1977 and introduced in 1981. In addition to this system, the Information Support System for International Telegraphic Agencies (SIMTA) was additionally put into operation.

The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union played a huge role in the coverage of the XXII Summer Olympic Games held in Moscow in 1980. A special team was created at TASS under the leadership of the agency's deputy director, which included correspondents, editors, signallers, stenographers and other specialists. In total, more than 1,700 employees from all TASS divisions participated in the information support of the Games. Information was transmitted from the information and computing center in Luzhniki to SIMTA, and from there it went to the international media. For the first time, the agency created a system capable of providing information support for the largest sporting event on the planet; texts went from the author to the editor and the issuing specialist, and edits, if necessary, were made within a few minutes. At the previous Olympics in Montreal, processing a single message took 25-30 minutes, while in Moscow this process took place in a matter of seconds. During the Olympic Games, SIMTA processed almost 20,000 messages; the system made it possible to distribute separate streams of information to agencies and subscribers on request, forming the prototype of a modern personalized mailing list. The sports editorial office had two terminals, which were a kind of remote computers that could be used to request any information from the help desk (in fact, it was an analog of an Internet search engine). The operators worked with them-students of technical universities, who helped journalists to fulfill requests faster. Every day, a new photo exhibition was created in the photo windows of TASS, containing the work of the agency's special staff. During the Games, more than 3,500 sports stories were released; the correspondent corps involved in work at the Olympic venues numbered about 60 people, including sports journalists, foreign language specialists and representatives of republican agencies. One and a half billion people in 111 countries of the world saw TASS messages and photos ^[7]. The agency provided instant transmission of news, interviews, analytical materials and records during the Olympics, and such work became the standard of Soviet and world journalism. Moreover, thanks in large part to the activities of TASS, the image of the USSR as a modern, hospitable and open power was created during the Games.

By the end of the 1980s, all TASS divisions had switched to electronic systems, which significantly accelerated data transmission. To coordinate the processes, the General Directorate of Communications and Automated Systems was formed, the key body of which was the Electronic Message Processing Center. By 1988, the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union had become one of the largest news agencies in the world, expanding to 682 locations in the country and 94 branches abroad; journalists were accredited in 125 countries. TASS's messages and photographs were used by more than a thousand foreign publications; daily Soviet information was published in more than 8 thousand newspapers in various parts of the world ^[21].

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, TASS, having lost its previous status, nevertheless retained the status of the central state news agency. In accordance with Decree No. 76 of the President of the RSFSR dated 08/22/1991 "On the activities of TASS, the Novosti News Agency and a number of newspapers to disinform the population and the world community about events in the country," the agency's assets were transferred to republican jurisdiction. Soon, Mikhail Gorbachev's former press secretary, V. Ignatenko, took over the post of TASS general director. According to V. Ignatenko himself, he did not receive directives from the Soviet and Russian authorities on the work of the agency, but saw its democratization and the elimination of dependence on state structures as his goal ^[22]. On January 22, 1992, a decree was issued by the President of the Russian Federation on the unification of TASS and RIA Novosti under the name ITAR-TASS. However, in reality, both agencies continued to work independently, the changes affected only one name: TASS was renamed ITAR-TASS. In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated December 22, 1993, No. 2257 "On the Information Telegraphic Agency of Russia", TASS was assigned the status of a state-owned enterprise, which confirmed its succession from the Telegraphic Agency of the Soviet Union.

In 2014, as part of a large-scale rebranding, the agency was given back its historical name. This marked a new stage of development, which implied "the creation of a powerful brand of a state agency – the Russian News Agency TASS" ^{[17; 18]}. Its mission was to spread truthful, complete and objective information, and its slogan was "We know" ^{[23, p. 6]}. The Agency evolved into a flexible tool of influence, combining control of the information field through centralized feeds and regional bureaus, which contributed to the formation of a unified information space in the country ^{[15, p. 108]}. Abroad, TASS continued to promote Russian narratives through foreign offices, interaction with other media and agencies.

In conclusion, it should be said that throughout the twentieth century, TASS functioned in accordance with the spirit of the era and taking into account the latest scientific and technological achievements, remaining a key information resource of the USSR, and then of the new Russia. This status determined the specifics of his work both at the global level and within the country. Even the SPTA, being under the control of the Council of Ministers, was heavily dependent on government structures. At the initial stage of its activity, TASS sought to reduce the dependence of domestic publications and their audience on foreign sources, forming the information sovereignty of the young Soviet state and its ideology. Then the focus shifted to the systematic promotion and popularization of the socialist model as the optimal path of social development. The texts were edited at the Politburo level and the agency presented a single government position in the materials, which limited the emergence of different points of view on events. However, this corresponded to the general practices of the era. During the Great Patriotic War, the agency played a very significant role in the fight against the Nazi invaders on the information and ideological fronts. The post-war decades were marked by the active entry of TASS into foreign platforms. The opening of dozens of foreign bureaus, the introduction of advanced work standards and the publication of materials in the international press turned him into an effective conductor of Soviet cultural and political influence. The correspondents applied the best practices of information processing and presentation, which was clearly demonstrated during the Olympic Games-80. But ideologized materials were not always perceived by a foreign audience, and had only a limited impact on other countries. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, TASS underwent chaotic structural changes, but the agency managed to maintain its leadership position, largely due to its proven data collection mechanisms and adaptation to changing audience demands. After the restoration, TASS continued to serve as an important instrument of Russian information policy, contributing to Russia's integration into the global media space. Indeed, the ability to transform itself in accordance with the demands of the times, technological and geopolitical challenges has ensured the agency not only a stable place among the country's leading media platforms and international news agencies, but also the role of one of the key instruments of the domestic foreign information policy.

The article is published in its final version as approved following the last positive peer review recommending acceptance for publication. It incorporates revisions made by the author in response to prior negative peer review reports that did not recommend publication. All peer review reports, including initial negative reviews, are published in open access alongside the article. All versions of the author’s revisions are archived in the publisher’s repository and may be made available upon reasonable request in accordance with Elsevier’s editorial policies and applicable data availability requirements.
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