On Wednesday, National Public Radio (NPR) announced it would cease posting new content on its 52 official Twitter feeds. This decision comes after Twitter labeled NPR as “state-affiliated media.” Due to this classification, NPR, a renowned news organization in the United States, has decided to discontinue its engagement on Twitter.
“We are officially de-emphasizing Twitter across the organization,” NPR mentioned in a statement, adding that it had decided after Twitter refused repeated requests to remove the “inaccurate label.”
Public TV broadcaster PBS has also suspended its tweets, citing the same reason. PBS spokesman Jeremy Gaines told The Washington Post, “We don’t have any plans to return.” The broadcaster has yet to respond to the request for comment immediately. Twitter had labeled both public media organizations as “state-affiliated media” before changing the wording to “government-funded media.” The BBC and Voice of America were also tagged.
Twitter was not immediately available for comment. Before the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk, the label was reserved for propaganda networks like Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua News Agency.
NPR plays a significant role in providing news and cultural programming
National Public Radio (NPR), a prominent nonprofit media organization based in Washington, D.C., is known for syndicating content to over 1,000 local radio stations across the United States. In response to Twitter’s labeling of NPR as “government-funded media,” some public radio stations, such as KCRW in Santa Monica, California, and WESA in Pittsburgh, have announced their decision to stop using the social media platform.
It’s worth noting that while NPR is funded through various sources, including corporate and individual supporters, grants, and programming fees from member stations, most of its funding does not come from the government. NPR stated that member stations receive approximately 13% of their funds from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other state and federal government sources.
NPR plays a significant role in providing news and cultural programming to communities across the United States. The decision by some affiliated member stations to suspend their use of Twitter highlights the concerns and reactions within the public media community to the “government-funded media” label. It also raises discussions about the evolving dynamics of social media and its impact on media organizations and their relationships with the public.
“The whole point isn’t whether or not we’re government funded,” CEO John Lansing said. “Even if we were government funded, which we’re not, the point is the independence because all journalism has revenue of some sort.”
Staff members are given the autonomy to decide whether to continue actively using Twitter
Lansing reiterated his message in an email sent to all staff at NPR, expressing that it would not be appropriate to continue sharing NPR’s serious journalistic work on a platform that associates the federal charter for public media with a compromise of editorial independence or standards.
NPR has decided to implement a two-week grace period to allow social media managers who oversee the organization’s accounts to reassess their social media strategies.
According to Lansing, NPR staff members are given the autonomy to decide whether they will continue actively using Twitter
NPR’s decision has sparked various responses online, including from its journalists. Scott Detrow, NPR’s White House correspondent, applauded the move, stating, “NPR is stepping away from Twitter. It’s the right move, and I’m proud of us for taking it.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged Twitter to reconsider its decision, with Carlos Martínez de la Serna, the program director of CPJ, stating that it is imperative to do so. Barry Malone, the deputy editor-in-chief of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, took to Twitter to express his thoughts on NPR’s departure from the platform, stating that it could be interpreted as a significant blow to Twitter, given NPR’s influential newsroom with almost 9 million followers.
Furthermore, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) also objected to being labeled “government-funded media” on Twitter’s main account. In response, Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Twitter, stated in an interview with the BBC that he has the utmost respect for the outlet and that the platform will change the BBC’s label after their objection. The developments highlight the ongoing discussions and debates surrounding Twitter’s labeling practices and the perception of media organizations in the online realm.
