Twitter has labeled National Public Radio as “state-affiliated media” on the social media site, a move some worried Wednesday could undermine public confidence in the news organization.
NPR said it was disturbed to see the description added to all of the tweets that it sends out, with John Lansing, its president and CEO, calling it “unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way.”
It was unclear why Twitter made the move. Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, quoted a definition of state-affiliated media in the company’s guidelines as “outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution.”
“Seems accurate,” Musk tweeted in a reply to NPR.
NPR does receive U.S. government funding through grants from federal agencies and departments, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The company said it accounts for less than 1% of NPR’s annual operating budget. But until Wednesday, the same Twitter guidelines said that “state-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the United States, are not defined as state-affiliated media for the purposes of this policy.”
NPR has now been removed from that sentence on Twitter’s website.
Asked for comment, Twitter’s press office responded with an automated poop emoji.
The move came just days after Twitter stripped The New York Times of its verification check mark.
“NPR and our member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide,” Lansing said. “NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding the powerful accountable.”
The literary organization PEN America, in calling for Twitter to reverse the move, underlined that NPR “assiduously maintains editorial independence.”
Liz Woolery, PEN America’s digital policy leader, said Twitter’s decision was “a dangerous move that could further undermine public confidence in reliable news sources.”
(AP)
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5 Responses
Def deep state funded, kuddos for Elon!
NPR is not state-controlled; it’s Democrat-controlled. Its reporting is reliably leftist regardless of the administration.
Hmmm I listen to NPR. I do pay attention to their funding. The govt contributions come to about 1% of their operating budget. The rest of the funding comes from listener donations and corporate sponsorship (Exon, Jiffy Lube, various banks). Additional funding is provided by charitable foundations like the Melvin Family Trust, Doris Duke Foundation, The Walton Family foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation etc. Musk is misleading people.
Payed for by Soros, liberals, and viewers like you!
Amil, you are not telling the truth. NPR’s government funding is much more than 1%. They work hard to hide the true level of taxpayer funding, much of which is indirect, but it comes to more than a third.