After being labeled with a pair of tags the outlet disagrees with, NPR has announced it will no longer be active on Twitter.
In a statement released Wednesday, the organization claimed that its organizational accounts are abandoning the social media platform because it is “taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying 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,” the statement from NPR continued. “We are turning away from Twitter but not from our audiences and communities. There are plenty of ways to stay connected and keep up with NPR’s news, music, and cultural content.”
Last week, the Elon Musk-owned platform tagged NPR as a “state-affiliated media” organization. Traditionally, that label was only used for what could be considered “propaganda” media in totalitarian states, like China and Russia, and was applied to organizations that didn’t have editorial control over their content.
Twitter reversed its previous guidelines that showcased NPR and BBC as media outlets that didn’t fit the moniker.
After publicly sharing its displeasure with the tag, which Musk argued “seemed accurate”, NPR was subsequently labeled as “government-funded media”. It would appear that that label would also be incorrect, as NPR has continually claimed that less than 1% of its annual budget comes from government funding.
When presented with that information, Musk said “Well, then we should fix it. The operating principle at new Twitter is simply fair and equal treatment, so if we label non-US accounts as govt, then we should do the same for the U.S., but it sounds like that might not be accurate here.”
However, NPR has simply decided to leave the platform, marking the first major news organization to take the step under Musk’s leadership.
