NPR Isn’t Happy After Elon Musk Makes Major Change To Its Twitter Profile

By
David Rufful
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OPINION | This article contains opinion that reflects the author's views.

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, purchased the social media giant Twitter for $44 billion and vowed to restore free speech, which is truly unbridled from the destructive control of dictatorial governments like China and Russia.

What about the U.S. government? Conservatives have celebrated Musk’s recent decision to label the U.S. outlet National Public Radio as “state-affiliated media.”

NPR is accused of publicly advancing a left-wing bias while also receiving American taxpayer dollars through a number of grants from federal agencies.

This labeling is also placed on Russia’s TASS and China’s Xinhua News.

“Seems accurate,” Musk said and shared a screenshot of Twitter’s explanation:

NPR isn’t happy about Twitter’s decision.

CEO John Lansing said the label is “untrue” and claims “NPR operates independently of the U.S. government.”

“And while federal money is important to the overall public media system, NPR gets less than 1% of its annual budget, on average, from federal sources,” Lansing continued. “NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding the powerful accountable. It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy.”

Lansing claims NPR publishes “independent, fact-based journalism.”

Many people responded by thanking Musk while others argued more left-wing media outlets that receive federal funding should also receie the labeling.

Here are some of the popular responses:

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