April 9 (UPI) — Elon Musk’s Twitter has again changed its label for NPR for the third time in recent days, in yet another attempt to clarify its confusing policies on media accounts.
Twitter last week decided to label NPR as “state-affiliated media” but swiftly received backlash online for the decision.
“State-affiliated media is defined as outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution,” Twitter’s rules and policies show.
“Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their prominent staff may be labeled. We will also add labels to Tweets that share links to state-affiliated media websites.”
NPR is a non-profit organization that receives funding through corporate sponsors, membership fees, grants and fees paid to the Public Radio Satellite System.
Its editorial decisions are completely independent of the U.S. government but some NPR affiliate stations also receive some funding from state and local governments. NPR has said less than 1% of its funding comes from federal sources.
After the backlash, Twitter on Saturday marked NPR and the BBC as “government funded” — a confusing term as Twitter’s rules and policies did not provide a definition for “government funded” or specify that the label is meant solely for media organizations.
Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, have together had received at least $4.9 billion in government funds and support by 2015, according to an investigation from the Los Angeles Times published that year, suggesting that his company’s may also qualify to receive the label.
The organization Good Jobs First has a complete list of at least 111 subsidies awarded for Tesla alone dating back to 2007.
In an apparent bid to clarify its policies yet again, Twitter on Sunday changed its label for NPR for the third time. It now reads, “Government-Funded Media.”
Twitter’s rules and policies still do not provide a definition for “government-funded media” — only defining “state-affiliated media.”
Generally, the terms “government-funded media” and “state-affiliated media” carry very different meanings.
Government-funded media describes media that receives a significant amount of funding from government sources other than commercial enterprise or directly from the public. Such organizations retain editorial independence and have the freedom to write more critically about politics.
Public broadcasters are the most typical media outlets in this category and include some of the largest news outlets worldwide, such as Italy’s RAI and Qatar-based Al Jazeera — neither of which have received a “government-funded” label.
Meanwhile, state-affiliated media generally are wholly owned by the federal government of a nation and likely do not have editorial independence. They are generally considered to be propaganda.
Such examples of media outlets funded by the U.S. government include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America.
Radio Free Europe and Voice of America, created to combat Nazi propaganda in WWII, are nonprofits supervised by the U.S. Agency for Global Media and funded by the U.S. Congress.
Radio Free Europe has not yet received a “government-funded media” label, though Voice of America had as of Sunday morning, a review by UPI shows. Neither were labeled “state-affiliated media.”
Other examples of state-affiliated media globally include the Russian news outlets TASS and RT, Vatican News operated by the Holy See, and North Korea‘s Korean Central News Agency.
Neither TASS or Vatican News have yet received either a “government-funded media” or “state-affiliated media” label on Twitter.
The seemingly arbitrary labeling by Twitter appears to indicate that the company is continuing to struggle with its understanding of the media landscape.
April 9 (UPI) — Elon Musk’s Twitter has again changed its label for NPR for the third time in recent days, in yet another attempt to clarify its confusing policies on media accounts.
Twitter last week decided to label NPR as “state-affiliated media” but swiftly received backlash online for the decision.
“State-affiliated media is defined as outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution,” Twitter’s rules and policies show.
“Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their prominent staff may be labeled. We will also add labels to Tweets that share links to state-affiliated media websites.”
NPR is a non-profit organization that receives funding through corporate sponsors, membership fees, grants and fees paid to the Public Radio Satellite System.
Its editorial decisions are completely independent of the U.S. government but some NPR affiliate stations also receive some funding from state and local governments. NPR has said less than 1% of its funding comes from federal sources.
After the backlash, Twitter on Saturday marked NPR and the BBC as “government funded” — a confusing term as Twitter’s rules and policies did not provide a definition for “government funded” or specify that the label is meant solely for media organizations.
Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, have together had received at least $4.9 billion in government funds and support by 2015, according to an investigation from the Los Angeles Times published that year, suggesting that his company’s may also qualify to receive the label.
The organization Good Jobs First has a complete list of at least 111 subsidies awarded for Tesla alone dating back to 2007.
In an apparent bid to clarify its policies yet again, Twitter on Sunday changed its label for NPR for the third time. It now reads, “Government-Funded Media.”
Twitter’s rules and policies still do not provide a definition for “government-funded media” — only defining “state-affiliated media.”
Generally, the terms “government-funded media” and “state-affiliated media” carry very different meanings.
Government-funded media describes media that receives a significant amount of funding from government sources other than commercial enterprise or directly from the public. Such organizations retain editorial independence and have the freedom to write more critically about politics.
Public broadcasters are the most typical media outlets in this category and include some of the largest news outlets worldwide, such as Italy’s RAI and Qatar-based Al Jazeera — neither of which have received a “government-funded” label.
Meanwhile, state-affiliated media generally are wholly owned by the federal government of a nation and likely do not have editorial independence. They are generally considered to be propaganda.
Such examples of media outlets funded by the U.S. government include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America.
Radio Free Europe and Voice of America, created to combat Nazi propaganda in WWII, are nonprofits supervised by the U.S. Agency for Global Media and funded by the U.S. Congress.
Radio Free Europe has not yet received a “government-funded media” label, though Voice of America had as of Sunday morning, a review by UPI shows. Neither were labeled “state-affiliated media.”
Other examples of state-affiliated media globally include the Russian news outlets TASS and RT, Vatican News operated by the Holy See, and North Korea‘s Korean Central News Agency.
Neither TASS or Vatican News have yet received either a “government-funded media” or “state-affiliated media” label on Twitter.
The seemingly arbitrary labeling by Twitter appears to indicate that the company is continuing to struggle with its understanding of the media landscape.