Authors

Discussion

From its establishment in the 1920s, the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) rapidly emerged as a key institution of the Soviet state. TASS would eventually enjoy responsibility for the distribution of domestic and international news, within and beyond the USSR's borders, while its agents formed an expanding global network, providing a means of information gathering on an international scale. Tuned into the official line from Moscow, TASS was responsible for its promotion among advocates and opponents of international communism for the duration of Soviet power.

Though scholars have recently begun to reassess the role and responsibilities of TASS from an international perspective, interest in its domestic operations and the relationship between Moscow and its Union-wide network of regional offices has not yet enjoyed the same attention. This paper seeks to overcome that shortfall by focusing on a decisive period in the development of the agency more broadly, and of its regional centre in Sverdlovsk, in particular. In the second half of the 1930s, SverdTASS would face numerous challenges, both political and practical in nature, during the department’s efforts to rationalise its operations and establish itself as the primary news distribution service in the region. Studying its history helps shine a light on the conflicting priorities of central and regional institutions of party and press during these formative years for TASS.