By John Ikani
National Public Radio (NPR) has announced its decision to leave Twitter, citing a recent decision by CEO Elon Musk to label it as state-affiliated media.
The outlet stated that it would no longer publish its work on the social media platform and that it would allow its accounts to go dormant.
NPR’s primary Twitter account, which carries more than 8 million followers, has ceased tweets since the label was applied.
“We are turning away from Twitter but not from our audiences and communities,” NPR said in a statement made available to newsmen.
“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.”
It added that “there are plenty of ways to stay connected and keep up with NPR’s news, music, and cultural content.”
Last week, Twitter under Musk had labeled a number of media outlets that receive some public funding with a “state-affiliated media” label.
The platform changed the label to “government-funded” after widespread pushback, including from the White House, which vouched for NPR’s editorial independence from the government.
NPR responded by updating its bio on the platform to read “NPR is an independent news organization committed to informing the public about the world around us. You can find us every other place you read the news.”
It is worthwhile to note that NPR has long faced criticism from the political right, who claim a left-leaning bias and catering to a highly-educated, liberal audience.
The majority of NPR’s funding comes from private sponsorships and user contributions, with the federal government and member stations contributing a smaller portion of their financing.
Musk’s tenure as Twitter CEO has been marked by controversy, with the spat with NPR being the latest incident.
