News organizations have become increasingly disenchanted with Twitter recently (and vice versa, if the recent replies from its press email account are any indication). One major news outlet decided this week that it has had enough.
NPR hasn’t posted to its Twitter account since last week, after Twitter labeled it as “U.S. state-affiliated media.” This is the same definition that Twitter uses for publications that serve as government propaganda outlets in places like Russia and China. NPR challenged that this is an inaccurate description as it is a private, nonprofit company that maintains editorial independence. The label was then changed to “government-funded media,” which NPR claimed was still inaccurate and misleading.
So NPR is now done with Twitter, with CEO John Lansing making it official in a memo to staff on Wednesday. “We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence,” he said. NPR operates 52 official feeds on the platform — the staff who run them will have a two-week grace period to develop new strategies, and individual NPR journalists and staffers can continue using their personal Twitter accounts if they wish.
