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

Twitter has labeled NPR as “US state-affiliated media” in accordance with its guidelines for providing additional context for accounts heavily involved in geopolitics and diplomacy.

The label appears on the profile page and tweets of accounts controlled by certain official representatives of governments, state-affiliated media entities, and individuals associated with those entities. State-affiliated media refers to outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution. Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their prominent staff may be labeled.

NPR’s Climate & Energy Correspondent Jeff Brady responded to the outlet’s new designation by writing on Twitter, “Uh, no…”

Though claims about how much NPR gets from taxpayers vary, NPR receives funds through grants provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In 2021, CPB appropriated nearly $70 million in grants from member stations. NPR also makes up the remainder of its budget through ads, payments from stations, and donations.

The Hill notes that state-financed media organizations with editorial independence, such as the BBC in the UK, are not defined as state-affiliated media according to Twitter’s guidelines.

Last month, NPR disclosed that they were stopping production on several podcasts as part of a larger series of cutbacks the nonprofit news organization has been forced to make in response to a projected $30 million decline in revenue.

In November of 2022, NPR froze new hiring and made $20 million in budget cuts, according to The Washington Post.