NPR to Leave Twitter After Labeling Row

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Facts

  • NPR announced Wednesday it will no longer use Twitter to distribute its content after the platform began labeling the news outlet as 'state-affiliated media” — which is typically assigned to publications like Russia's RT and China's Xinhua. Twitter later changed the label to 'government-funded media.”1
  • NPR accused the Elon Musk-owned company of 'falsely implying' that the outlet is not editorially independent. NPR added that it won't put its content on a platform that seeks to undermine its credibility.2
  • NPR is a non-profit media organization that syndicates more than 1K local public radio stations across the US that receive about 13% of their funds from the federally-funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other state and federal government sources.3
  • Twitter says the 'government-funded' label applies to any news outlet receiving 'some or all' funding from the government, which 'may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content.'4
  • NPR Chief Executive Officer John Lansing said the idea of returning to Twitter would take 'some time to understand whether Twitter can be trusted again.'5
  • After hitting NPR with the 'government-funded' label, Twitter also added the BBC to the list. However, Musk has since said he will change the label following an interview with the outlet, which objected to the move.3

Sources: 1FOX News, 2NBC, 3Guardian, 4TechCrunch and 5Breitbart.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Caitlinjohnstone. If anything, Twitter's 'state-affiliated media' label has not been applied enough. In addition to NPR, the label should be pinned to accounts for CIA-created US propaganda outlets like Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Voice of America. This designation should also be tagged on other outlets which receive far more state funding than NPR.
  • Narrative B, as provided by NPR Online News. All media outlets are funded by someone, so the only question is whether a news outlet is independent – and NPR certainly is. Throughout its history, NPR has remained objective in reporting nationally and internationally. Just because an outlet receives some government funding doesn’t mean it puts its journalistic ethics on hold.
  • Narrative C, as provided by Newsweek. This label serves no purpose other than to satisfy Musk’s axe to grind with NPR after the organization decided not to cover live remarks last week by former Pres. Trump. Musk is using Twitter to play politics and punish those whose values don’t align with his.