As we previously reported, the top brass at NPR were not amused when they discovered last Tuesday that Twitter CEO Elon Musk had slapped a “US state-affiliated media” label on their Twitter account, and they were doubly mad that they weren’t notified ahead of time of the decision to do so.
“NPR and our Member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide,” NPR president/CEO John Lansing hilariously proclaimed in a statement. “NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding the powerful accountable.”
Since the discovery, NPR’s Twitter account has gone silent, with their bio (as of this writing) stating that, “NPR is an independent news organization committed to informing the public about the world around us,” while directing readers/viewers to check out NPR’s so-called reporting elsewhere.
“You can find us every other place you read the news.”
Presumably, NPR has been furiously lobbying behind the scenes to get the label changed in the meantime.
If in fact, that is what they’ve been doing, they were successful – sort of. Musk has indeed changed the label… to “government-funded media,” and according to NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn, Musk told him he was “applying it to a larger number of institutions.”
As indicated below, NPR wasn’t the only media outlet that got the “government-funded” label treatment. The BBC, VOA News, and PBS all received it as well:
Some media outlets, like “The Hill,” have portrayed Musk’s re-labeling of NPR as sort of an attempt at placating NPR, but I don’t see it this way. Especially when you consider that they immediately demonstrated that Musk was correct with stories like this one, which was done in response to high-profile Republicans routinely pointing out that the woke, Trump-prosecuting Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is funded by billionaire Democrat backer George Soros:
Relatedly, NPR’s left-wing supporters have tried coming to their defense in the absence of the official account’s presence, but even their Twitter defenders are getting hammered in the Community Notes sections of such tweets:
Discerning readers will note that “publicly funded” and “state-funded” are distinctions without much of a difference. Besides, even if NPR isn’t “taking editorial direction from the government” or candidates for public office, they nevertheless spout off talking points that often mirror what we hear straight from Democrat government officials and others seeking higher office.
I mean, they even quoted Biden White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defending them in their write-up on Musk’s changes to their account.
Talk about proving the point! It has just happened too often to be a mere coincidence. Sorry not sorry, NPR, but if the shoe fits and all that…
