National Public Radio’s official Twitter account received the designation of being state-sponsored media this week, angering left-wing journalists at the company while eliciting mockery from conservatives online.
Under the account’s verification badge, the words “US state-affiliated media” now appear. The organization does receive U.S. taxpayer funding.
Twitter has now correctly branded NPR as US state-affiliated media. It is an accurate description. pic.twitter.com/ewg35r4xIL
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 5, 2023
In response to an account posting a screenshot of the NPR’s label on the platform, Twitter CEO Elon Musk shared the company’s policy on labeling state-affiliated media.
“State-affiliated media is defined 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,” the Twitter policy says.
NPR President John Lansing lashed out at the designation, claiming that the organization provides “independent, fact-based journalism.”
“We were disturbed to see last night that Twitter has labeled NPR as ‘state-affiliated media,’ a description that, per Twitter’s own guidelines, does not apply to NPR,” he said. “NPR and our Member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide.”
“NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding the powerful accountable,” he claimed. “It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy.”
NPR stands for freedom of speech & holding the powerful accountable. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy.
My full statement on the recent inaccurate Twitter label below: pic.twitter.com/kdusUNtNUo— John Lansing (@johnlansing) April 5, 2023
NPR infamously refused to cover the Hunter Biden laptop scandal in the weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
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“We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions,” NPR Managing Editor Terence Samuels said at the time in explaining why the publication would not cover the story.
Actor Dean Cain responded, “Taxpayer money should NOT fund NPR.”
Daily Caller editor Vince Coglianese tweeted: “Notice that he doesn’t even bother to acknowledge the role government funding does play in subsidizing NPR. This is written like a statement from a political campaign.”
“‘[H]olding the powerful accountable’ — @NPR unquestioningly carried water for the nation’s establishment & elite during COVID and submits to the same political narrative that is uniformly espoused by the fed. government, academia, Hollywood, medicine, science, and media,” said Bryan Griffin, press secretary for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.