After days of criticism, Twitter has quietly changed its name to NPR on saturday. Now, instead of “United States-affiliated media,” the poster reads “Government-funded media.”
Voice of America and the BBC The label was also given.
NPR stopped tweeting on Tuesday, the same day that Twitter used the label “state media,” similar to that of heavily state-controlled media in China. NPR gets less than 1% of its annual budget, on average, from federal sources.
“NPR stands for freedom of speech and accountability for the powerful,” said John Lansing, CEO of NPR advertiser. “It is unacceptable for Twitter to describe us in this way. A free, strong and vibrant press is essential to the health of our democracy.”
The BBC has taken issue with the “government funded media” label and has contacted Twitter to request that it be removed. according to the deadline. The BBC is and always will be independent. “We are funded by the British public through license fees,” a spokesperson told Deadline.
NPR is a favorite target of conservatives who accuse it of liberal bias. On Fox News, Tucker Carlson Thursday He praised Musk as a “hero” to give NPR the “State Media” designation. This is the same category as Russia Today Television or China Central Television. This means that NPR is not much different from the Tehran Times, except of course being less accurate and more anti-American,” Carlson said.
Musk himself seemed less confident in the poster. in Email exchange With NPR Business Correspondent Bobby Allen on Thursday, Allen pointed out that NPR was public media, not state media, and Musk replied, “Well, then we’ve got to fix that.” Musk asked Allyn to break down NPR’s funding, and added: “The operating principle of the new Twitter is simply fair and equal treatment, so if we classify non-US accounts as government, then we should do the same for the US, but it looks like that might not be accurate.” here “.
Twitter hit NPR with “state media” days after removing the blue check mark for The New York Times, of which Musk has been a frequent critic. Checkmark was previously given to premium accounts for free but now requires a monthly fee, which times He indicated that he would not pay. musk books affiliate times Earlier this month, “their publicity is not even interesting.”
Clicking on the Government Funded Media flag leads to a Page that does not currently explain What does the label mean. But Musk said Twitter is “applying it to more organizations,” according to Allen.
luck She reached out to Twitter and NPR for comment on Sunday but did not receive any immediate responses. Twitter dissolved its media relations team in November and no longer responds to press inquiries.
NPR has not resumed tweeting as of Sunday.