Earlier this year, NPR announced it would cease utilizing Twitter after the platform’s owner — Elon Musk — labeled the organization with a “state-affiliated media” tag. The outlet’s president — John Lansing — has no regrets about the decision.
In a fundraising email, Lansing said he hasn’t considered reversing course since originally making the decision.
“It has been 260 days since, and I have no regrets about this decision,” wrote Lansing, per Inside Radio. “In the months following our ‘Twexit,’ several other public media organizations followed suit.”
The “state-affiliated media” label was previously reserved for those media outlets generally operating in countries ruled by a dictator. NPR was quick to point out that Twitter’s own policy on using the label precluded it from being called as such. However, Musk then attempted to call it “government-funded media” before the outlet ended posting on the platform.
Despite having more than 8 million followers on its main account, NPR claims it has only seen a traffic drop of 1% since its April exit from the social media platform.
In retaliation for its departure, Musk has threatened to give the main NPR handle away, saying the outlet “wouldn’t get special treatment”.
“National Pumpkin Radio,” Musk reportedly replied to a reporter tasked with finding out if internal memos were true about giving away the handle. “NPR isn’t tagged as government-funded media anymore, so what’s the beef?”
