NPR Quits Twitter After Musk’s Social Network Labels Its Account ‘Government-Funded Media’

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor National Public Radio is suspending all activity on Twitter effective immediately, after the public radio broadcaster said the Elon Musk-owned platform’s “government-funded media” label on its account falsely implies NPR is not editorially independent of the U.S.

government. Last week, Twitter added a label to NPR’s primary account that says it is “US state-affiliated media,” which CEO John Lansing slammed as “unacceptable.” The social network later modified that to say NPR is “government-funded media.” According to NPR, on average, less than 1% of its annual operating budget comes in the form of grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and federal agencies and departments. “NPR’s organizational accounts will no longer be active on Twitter because the platform is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent,” a spokesperson for the organization said in a statement to Variety. “We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence.” Twitter also recently added the “government-funded media” label to the accounts of PBS and the BBC.

In a thread NPR posted Wednesday on Twitter, which are presumably its final posts for now, the organization detailed how supporters can continue to follow the broadcaster online, including on other social platforms. “We are turning away from Twitter but not from our audiences and communities,” the NPR rep said. “There are plenty of ways to stay connected and keep up with NPR’s news, music, and cultural content.” Musk, the multibillionaire who closed the $44 billion deal for