National Public Radio (NPR), a prominent US radio broadcaster, announced on Wednesday that it would be leaving Twitter, marking the first significant departure of a major news organization since Elon Musk’s turbulent acquisition of the social media platform.
This decision follows a week of disputes regarding Twitter’s choice to categorize NPR as “state-affiliated media,” a label typically applied to major media organizations in authoritarian countries such as Russia and China. NPR had already paused tweets from its primary account, waiting for Twitter to reconsider its labeling. Twitter eventually changed the label to “government-funded media,” a tag also used for the UK’s BBC.
In a brief statement, NPR said it would cease activity on all its organizational Twitter accounts, as the platform’s actions “falsely imply that we are not editorially independent” and undermine their credibility. However, the statement also reminded users that they could continue following NPR’s news, music, and cultural content through other platforms linked in their final tweet.
Despite Musk’s long-standing aversion to news media, news organizations have found it difficult to break away from the platform, a primary communication channel for celebrities, politicians, and commentators.
An NPR representative informed AFP that journalists and affiliated radio stations could choose to remain on Twitter. NPR’s exit occurred shortly after Musk mentioned in a BBC interview on Tuesday that the labeling decision was an error and that he would contemplate changing it to “publicly funded.”
He also commented on Twitter’s contentious decision to remove the New York Times’ blue verification checkmark after the company refused to pay to maintain it. As a result, beginning April 20, legacy verified accounts must pay to subscribe to Twitter Blue.
Musk attributed this decision to his reluctance to promote a select group of journalists who determine what constitutes news. In the same interview, Musk acknowledged that managing the social media platform has been “quite a rollercoaster” and admitted to “many mistakes” made during his six months of ownership, having purchased the company for $44 billion.
Despite the challenges, Musk reported that the company was now “roughly breaking even,” partly due to significant layoffs that reduced the workforce from 7,000 to 1,500 employees. In addition, he refuted claims that the platform’s misinformation and hateful content had increased since his takeover.
Maintaining his reputation as a dedicated workaholic, Musk revealed that he often slept on a couch at Twitter headquarters. When asked who would serve as Twitter’s new CEO after pledging to find a replacement, he jokingly named his dog, Floki.
