Trump Adds “State-Affiliated Media” Tag to NPR’s Account

Twitter labeled NPR as “US state-affiliated media” on Tuesday night. This label provides additional context for accounts heavily engaged in geopolitics and diplomacy. According to Twitter’s guidelines, the label appears on the profile page of the relevant Twitter account and on the Tweets sent and shared by those accounts.

Twitter defines “state-affiliated media” as media outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution. The guidelines, however, make an exception for state-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK.

NPR’s Climate & Energy Correspondent Jeff Brady responded with a tweet, “Uh, no…” to NPR’s new designation. While it is difficult to accurately determine how much NPR receives from taxpayers, it is estimated to be around 25% of their budget. The remaining budget comes from ads, payments from stations, and donations.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) provides grants to NPR, and in 2021, CPB appropriated nearly $70 million in grants from member stations. NPR recently disclosed that they were stopping production on several podcasts due to a projected $30 million decline in revenue. In November 2022, the outlet froze new hiring and made $20 million in budget cuts. However, NPR reported revenue of $309.7 million and an operating surplus of $28.8 million in fiscal 2021, a sharp increase over its pandemic-beset fiscal 2020.