World News | NPR Quits Elon Musk's Twitter over 'government-funded' Label
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. National Public Radio is quitting Twitter over the social media company's recent actions under owner Elon Musk to stamp it with labels the news organisation says are meant to undermine its credibility.
Washington, Apr 12 (AP) National Public Radio is quitting Twitter over the social media company's recent actions under owner Elon Musk to stamp it with labels the news organisation says are meant to undermine its credibility.
“NPR's organisational accounts will no longer be active on Twitter because the platform is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent,” the news organisation said in a statement Wednesday.
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Last week, Twitter labelled NPR's main account as “state-affiliated media” on the social media site, a label also used to identify media outlets that are controlled or heavily influenced by authoritarian governments.
Twitter later changed the label to “government-funded media” and gave it to at least one other public news organisation, the BBC.
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“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,” NPR's statement said.
NPR's chief communications officer, Isabel Lara, said in an email that “NPR journalists and employees will decide on their own if they wish to remain on the platform, same for NPR member stations as they're independently owned and operated.”
NPR does receive US government funding through grants from federal agencies and departments, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The company said it accounts for less than 1 per cent of NPR's annual operating budget. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)