Business Processes of the News Hub of a News Agency (Using the Example of TASS)

Abstract

The article analyzes the current editorial business processes of a news agency, with a focus on the News Hub and the editorial office of the website tass.ru of the TASS agency. From an industrial point of view, TASS is one of the oldest and most highly cited media outlets in the country, and is part of the 'Big Three' along with RIA Novosti and Interfax. The study uses semi-structured expert interviews with agency media managers, analysis of open data, and observation method. The hypothesis is that the editorial offices of the news agency have diversified their processes as much as possible due to the importance of b2c platforms in the editorial practice of the media, which is also reflected in the re-structuring of divisions (increase in departments, groups, the emergence of new specialists). The novelty of the study lies in the description and analysis of the work of key structural divisions of a news agency, which has not previously been studied in academic discourse and has not been studied in detail in the news media industry. The editorial activities of TASS are one of the subjects of a large comprehensive study of the transformation of business processes of federal news agencies in Russia. In this article, the author conducts an audit of current business processes and identifies expert assessments regarding the development of such processes.