Twitter Inc. is no longer describing National Public Radio as “US state-affiliated media,” instead labeling it as “Government Funded Media” in a tag near the top of the broadcaster’s profile.
The social-media company made the change following backlash from NPR, which last week called the designation disturbing and unacceptable. NPR has 8.8 million Twitter followers.
NPR hasn’t sent out any tweets since April 4, when employees discovered that Twitter had given it the “state-affiliated media” designation. Twitter has mostly given the label to media companies influenced by authoritarian governments, like Russia’s RT network and China’s Xinhua News Agency.
NPR and Twitter didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
John Lansing,
NPR’s president and chief executive, said in a statement last week that the broadcaster provides independent, fact-based journalism. “It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way,” he said.
NPR said on its website that less than 1% of its budget comes from federal grants, including from the government-supported Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Most of NPR’s revenue comes from corporate partnerships, it said, and dues and fees paid by its member stations.
National Public Radio headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Photo:
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Twitter’s guidelines say it gives the “state-affiliated media” designation to news organizations controlled by a government.
NPR said in a news story last week that one of its reporters had emailed with
Elon Musk,
Twitter’s owner. When the reporter told him that government funds represented about 1% of NPR’s finances, Mr. Musk wrote, “Well, then we should fix it.”
The BBC in the U.K. also has a “Government Funded Media” label. The broadcaster said on Monday that it objected to the label because it is an independent news organization. The BBC, which is based in London, receives funding through a TV license fee that people in the U.K. must pay to watch live television.
Mr. Musk, the billionaire who bought Twitter in October, has since used the social-media platform to take aim at certain news organizations. He took away the
New York Times’s
verification check mark earlier this month. He also started limiting how Substack Inc. integrates with the platform after the digital-newsletter company announced it was preparing a social-media rival.
He has had a pessimistic view of news outlets for some time, saying they are driven by getting “max clicks.” He has also said he increasingly views news companies as Twitter’s rivals in the information business. Twitter relies on users to tweet information in real time. Many of its biggest users are journalists.
Write to Alyssa Lukpat at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
For all the latest Technology News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
