Broadcasting in the Soviet Union news and television news was provided almost entirely by the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, commonly known as TASS until 1991. Under the rule of Emperor Nikolai II, the first broadcasting system began in 1904, and evolved into TASS in 1925. TASS still exists today, transformed into the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS). It occupies a Joseph Stalin-era building in Moscow, characterised by a bas-relief sculpture above the main entrance. However, much like its counterparts in cinema and the press, it has suffered since the break-up of Soviet Union. ITAR now broadcasts domestic news, while TASS reports the
Cyprus News Agency Pool. In 1984, CNA expanded its activities, hired journalists and other staff and secured translation and distribution of its dispatches in other languages apart from English. In 1989, the Cyprus House of Representatives approved legislation providing for the operation of the Cyprus News Agency as a "semi-governmental" news organisation with full editorial independence. Under the Act, CNA is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors comprising established media professionals. The Board includes representatives of the Cyprus Journalists Union, the Cyprus Newspaper and Magazine Publishers Association, CyBC and the PIO. In 1996, an important year in the development of CNA, news