Taxpayer-funded NPR provided a revealing statement on Wednesday resolving Twitter’s decision to label NPR as “U.S. state-affiliated media” in its bio.
NPR, whose budget is subsidizednearly 11 percent by taxpayer funds, stated it was “disrupted” about the social media platform’s decision to be transparent about the subsidization of NPR.
President and CEO John Lansing called the label “inaccurate,” while arguing the company “means freedom of speech & holding the effective accountable. A vigorous, vibrant free press is necessary to the health of our democracy”:
NPR stands for liberty of speech & holding the effective responsible. An energetic, dynamic free press is essential to the health of our democracy.
My full declaration on the current incorrect Twitter label listed below: pic.twitter.com/kdusUNtNUo— John Lansing (@johnlansing) April 5, 2023
Wow, way to make this label meaningless. NPR is absolutely not even similar to propaganda outlets like RT & Sputnik, which have no editorial independence. This is ridiculous and just helps real propaganda outlets blend in with genuine news outlets. pic.twitter.com/xD44Ijntwe
— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) April 5, 2023
NPR also knocked the label by releasingin an article entitled, “Twitter labels NPR’s account as ‘state-affiliated media,’ which is incorrect.”
In the piece, NPR press reporter Costs Chappell reached out for remark to Yoel Roth, who was Twitter’s head of trust and security and a notoriously left-wing staff member with a history of political tweetswho formerly corresponded members of the Trump administration with Nazis. Roth left Twitter after Elon Musk acquired the platform.
“Twitter’s decision to label NPR as a state media outlet flies in the face of years of research, all evidence about NPR’s financing and governance, and Twitter’s own policies and concepts,” Roth declared.
“Establishing an incorrect equivalency in between public broadcasters and editorial control of media by federal government is misleading,” he stated, “and weakens the important work of supplying openness about state-backed propaganda efforts around the globe.”
Lots of NPR affiliates have a history of attacking conservatives and Republican lawmakers. In March, Republican Politician Home Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) was targetedby a taxpayer-funded NPR affiliate in New York State.
Taxpayer-funded NPR will lay off 10 percent of its workforce, going from roughly 1,200 to about 1,050 staff members, after the left-wing media business failed to produce enough income, the organization revealed Thursday. https://t.co/LRRHQIz5lO
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 24, 2023
“Taxpayer-funded disinformation outlet NCPR, captured unlawfully sending out e-mails supporting Democrat prospects, continues their odd, sexist fascination with lying about Elise Stefanik,” senior adviser to Stefanik, Alex DeGrasse, told Breitbart News.
In 2021, NPR releasedincorrect claims in a book evaluation of Hunter Biden’s memoir that his laptop computer was Russian disinformation. It has actually considering that provided a correction, referencing the now-debunked Politicostory on October 19, 2020, which used “lots of former intel authorities” to push an incorrect and deceptive narrative about the origins of Hunter’s laptop.
The selective protection seems costing the taxpayer-funded network. NPR revealed in March it willlay off 10 percent of its workforce, going from approximately 1,200 to about 1,050 employees, after the left-wing media company failed to generate sufficient income.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter@WendellHuseb ø. He is the author of Politics of Servant Morality.