NPR protests as Twitter calls it ‘state-affiliated media’

Twitter has labeled National Public Radio as “state-affiliated media” on the social media site, a switch some nervous Wednesday would possibly undermine public confidence inside the info group.

NPR talked about it was disturbed to see the define added to all the tweets that it sends out, with John Lansing, its president and CEO, calling it “unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way.”

It was unclear why Twitter made the switch. Twitter’s proprietor, Elon Musk, quoted a definition of state-affiliated media inside the agency’s pointers as “outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution.”

“Seems accurate,” Musk tweeted in a reply to NPR.

NPR does acquire U.S. authorities funding by means of grants from federal corporations and departments, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The agency talked about it accounts for decrease than 1% of NPR’s annual working value vary. But until Wednesday, the equivalent Twitter pointers talked about that “state-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the United States, are not defined as state-affiliated media for the purposes of this policy.”

NPR has now been far from that sentence on Twitter’s web page.

Asked for comment, Twitter’s press office responded with an automated poop emoji.

The switch received right here merely days after Twitter stripped The New York Times of its verification check mark.

“NPR and our member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide,” Lansing talked about. “NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding the powerful accountable.”

The literary group PEN America, in calling for Twitter to reverse the switch, underlined that NPR “assiduously maintains editorial independence.”

Liz Woolery, PEN America’s digital protection chief, talked about Twitter’s selection was “a dangerous switch that may extra undermine public confidence in reliable info sources.”

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