Musk’s Twitter hits new low as NPR publicly quits the platform

NPR publicly quit Twitter in protest of “Government-funded media” tag.

On April 5, 2023, National Public Radio (NPR)’s Twitter accounts were labeled “US state-affiliated media.”

This ominous-looking tag was introduced by Twitter’s erstwhile leadership prior to the 2020 election so users would “have context on [an account’s] national affiliation and [be] better informed about who they represent.”

On April 12, 2023, a week after receiving the label, NPR announced that they will be leaving Twitter entirely, saying the social media platform is “taking actions that undermine our credibility.”

News: NPR becomes first major news org to stop using Twitter, saying that the Elon Musk-owned platform “is taking actions that undermine our credibility.”

“We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility…” pic.twitter.com/mtgprKRRfI

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) April 12, 2023

Is NPR “state-affiliated media”?

The short answer is no, NPR is not “state-affiliated media,” at least not by Twitter’s own guidelines.

State-affiliated media is defined 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. Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their prominent staff may be labeled. – Twitter Rules & Policies

To cover their tracks, Twitter even removed specific language from their policy site that stated “media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the US for example, are not defined as state-affiliated media for the purposes of this policy.”

Yesterday, @elonmusk’s Twitter labeled NPR “state-affiliated media,” even though the company’s own policy stated the organization shouldn’t be labeled as such because it has editorial independence (left).

Hours later, Twitter removed the reference to NPR in the policy (right). pic.twitter.com/cAXoXYFQ2G

— David Gura (@davidgura) April 5, 2023

NPR’s leadership insists that “NPR is a private, nonprofit company with editorial independence. It receives less than 1 percent of its $300 million annual budget from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”

According to InfluenceWatch.org, “NPR receives funding for less than 1% of its budget directly from the federal government, but receives almost 10% of its budget from federal, state, and local governments indirectly.”

Despite “Head Twit” Elon Musk Tweeting that the tag “seems accurate” his $44b social media platform eventually amended NPR’s tag to read “Government-funded Media.“

What does this all mean?

NPR feels that the “Government-funded Media” tag is still “inaccurate and misleading,” and as a result will not be publishing new content on any of their 52 Twitter accounts.

The news org posted a thread describing the different, non-Twitter, ways that readers can find NPR’s reporting.

pic.twitter.com/OLgOHvTlma

— NPR (@NPR) April 12, 2023

Paired with Twitter’s April 2nd removal of the New York Times’ verification, this represents the Musk-owned platform’s most straightforward clash with American news organizations.

It’s hard to see how any of these actions support the billionaire’s claims of “Free Speech” on Twitter.

It’s even more difficult to imagine how quarreling with generally trusted media companies is going to convince brands to start advertising on Twitter again.

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