Elon Musk calls for ‘returning NPR funds’ after outlet quits Twitter

Elon Musk on Wednesday demanded that National Public Radio be stripped of federal funding amid an escalating feud with the media.

Twitter’s billionaire CEO was furious shortly after NPR has announced that it will stop posting to 52 Twitter accounts. The exit followed public outrage over Twitter’s decision to label the outlet’s main account as “government-funded media.”

When asked by NPR reporter Bob Allin if he feared NPR’s withdrawal would cause a massive spill among other news outlets, Musk responded:

Musk also pointed to a message on NPR’s website in a section titled “Public Radio Finances.”

“Federal funding is essential to public radio’s service to the American public, and its continuity is important to both broadcasters and program producers, including NPR.” A message on NPR’s website reads:

“NPR literally says federal funding is *essential* on its website,” Musk added. “What do you have against the truth of @NPR?”

NPR states that “less than 1% of its $300 million annual budget comes from federally funded public broadcasters.” Most of its revenue comes from sponsorship deals and customer fees.

The Washington Post reached out to NPR for comment on Musk’s remarks.

Twitter initially labeled NPR’s main account as “national media.” This is the same designation as outlets such as Russia Today and China’s state-owned Xinhua News Agency.

At the time, Musk cited Twitter’s guidelines, which define “state media” as “outlets where the state controls editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressure, and/or control over production and distribution.” Did.

NPR claimed the label was inaccurate because it operates as an independent nonprofit.

After facing backlash from NPR and other critics, Twitter softened its stance and changed its label to “government-funded media.” The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBS) has the same label on Twitter.

Despite the change, NPR said it was quitting Twitter entirely, citing concerns that Musk’s move would affect NPR’s journalistic credibility.

In a statement, NPR said, “NPR’s organizational account is no longer active on Twitter. because they are,” NPR said in a statement.

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) also announced plans to exit Twitter after the site labeled its accounts with the same “government-funded media” label.