Russian Telegraph Agency

Agitpropposter by Mayakovsky

Russian Telegraph Agency(Russian:Российское телеграфное агентство,Rossiyskoye telegrafnoye agentstvo),abbr.ROSTA,was thestatenews agencyinSoviet Russiabetween 1918 and 1935. It was the central information organ of the Soviet state.

After the creation ofTelegraph Agency of the Soviet Unionin 1925, it remained the news agency of Soviet Russia. Its name was associated withRosta windows(Russian:Окна Роста,Okna Rosta).

History

In 1904, Minister of FinanceVladimir Nikolaevich Kokovtsovargued for a state telegraph news agency by saying that private owners were not reliable. In July 1904, at a meeting of special departments, the project for creating a state telegraph agency was approved. On 1 September 1904, the agency started its work. The agency was located in Petrograd before the revolution. DuringWorld War I,the agency changed its name from St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency (SPTA) to Petrograd Telegraph Agency (PTA).

During theOctober Revolution,Petrograd Telegraph Agency's building was occupied by Baltic sailors under the leadership ofLeonid Stark.He transmitted the first reports about the revolution in Russia to all newspapers in the world. On 18 November 1917,Council of People's Commissarsdecreed that the Petrograd Telegraph Agency will be the central information body.

On 7 September 1918, theAll-Russian Central Executive Committeeadopted the “Resolution on the merger of the Petrograd Telegraph Agency (PTA) and the Press Bureau under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee”. The new agency was named the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA) under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The technical base of ROSTA was made up of the structures of the Petrograd Telegraph Agency (PTA) and private news agencies. The resolution of theCouncil of People's Commissars of the RSFSRrequired all media to reprint the decrees of the Soviet government and the latest news received through ROSTA channels. It moved first toMetropol Hotel,Moscow,and then to a separate building on Milyutinsky Lane.On 23 December, Belarusian Branch of the Russian Telegraph Agency (BELOTROSTA) was opened on Zakharyevskaya street inMinsk.

On 12 December 1920, the agency was subordinated toGlavpolitprosvet.In 1919, agency had only 42 branches, and then by 1922 there were already 474 branches and correspondent offices. This allowed the Russian Telegraph to supply the capital and provincial periodicals with new information as quickly as possible. The agency then changed its addresses to Armenian Lane in 1923.

After the creation of theTelegraph Agency of the Soviet Union(TASS) on July 10, 1925, ROSTA functioned as the news agency of the RSFSR. In March 1935, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, ROSTA was liquidated, and its functions were transferred toTASS.

Activity

In addition to disseminating information via telegraph channels, ROSTA in 1918-1920 printed its own publications: the newspaper “AgitROSTA", the magazines "Krasnaya Zvezda” and “Red Journalist”, which were published once or twice a week, as well as large-circulated newspapers.

Rosta windows

Main article:ROSTA windows

Rosta windows or satirical Rosta windows (Russian:Окна сатиры Роста,Okna satiry Rosta) werestencil-replicatedpropagandaposterscreated by artists and poets within the Rosta system, under the supervision of the Chief Committee of Political Education during 1919–21. Inheriting theRussiandesign traditions oflubokandrayok,the main topics were current political events. They were usually displayed in windows, hence the name.

The first Rosta window was created in Moscow by Mikhail Cheremnykh (1890-1962). He was soon joined byVladimir Mayakovsky,a popular and prolific author,Dmitry Moor(1883-1946),Amshey Nurenberg(1887-1979),Alexander Rodchenko,Mikhail Volpinand others. Similar projects were performed in other Soviet cities. Cheremnykh and Mayakovsky, for example, produced a poster in 1921 satirising aFrenchdelegation led byJoseph Noulens.

The design featured graphical simplicity suitable for viewing from distance and often usedlubok-styled sequences of pictures according to some plot, similar to moderncomics.The posters were not printed but rather painted with cut-out stencils made from cardboard. Once the required number of posters was painted, the stencils were sent to another city and put in circulation throughout the Soviet Union.

During theWorld War II,this approach was reproduced in Tass windows byKukryniksy.

See also

• Media of Russia

External links

• Rosta Windows - Vladimir Mayakovsky(Russian)
• Parodies of Rosta Windows in the 1990s(Russian)
• ROSTA Posters exhibition(English)

Bibliography

• Ward, Alex (2008).Power to the People: Early Soviet Propaganda Posters in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.London, UK, Ashgate,ISBN0-85331-981-2