National Public Radio plans to shut down its Twitter accounts, saying the recent decision by the Elon Musk-owned platform to label it as “government-funded media” undermines its credibility.
In a statement Wednesday morning, NPR said Twitter’s decision “falsely impl[ies] that we are not editorially independent.”
“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,” it said.
In a separate statement, NPR CEO John Lansing said, “Actions by Twitter or other social media companies to tarnish the independence of any public media institution are exceptionally harmful and set a dangerous precedent.”
Twitter and Musk could not be reached for comment.
The decision to label NPR’s account as “government-funded media” came after Musk and Twitter initially labeled NPR’s account “U.S. state-affiliated media,” a designation customarily used for media outlets like Russia Today (RT) and China’s Xinhua with direct ties to government entities.
Musk also recently applied the label to the British Broadcasting Corporation, though in an interview said he plans to amend the label on the BBC’s main account to say “publicly funded” media.
On its website, NPR describes itself as “an independent, non-profit media organization,” and that less than 1% of its budget comes from grants from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies and departments.
Yet it has long been a target for criticism among right-wing and conservative pundits, who have alleged the outlet and its affiliates’ programming leans progressive.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
