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Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media', which is untrue

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Re: Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media', which is untrue

#11

Post by ncr100 »

S33V wrote: post #3

Here's Twitter's documentation on how they identify state-affiliated media[1]. This excerpt makes the decision seem outside of the defined process: 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. Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entitie…

EDIT: Removed fluff.

Q: At what point is Twitter itself a source of misinformation, or disinformation?

Q: At what point Could this labeling trigger reasonable legal action, around Twitter's apparent conscientious selective moderation => making Twitter "responsible" for everyone's tweets, by NPR?

Re: Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media', which is untrue

#13

Post by moose_man »

The US government does not control NPR this is ridiculous. If they did, why are they laying people off over funding? They get most of their money from foundations and corporate sponsors. Who in the US government could control it? Congress, the President? the Top-Secret deep state? This is a bad look for Musk because it isn't even logical. Does Musk not remember the decade where all NPR programs were "sponsored by Audible" or "brought to by Audible"? I got so sick of hearing about audible.com and its great selection of audiobooks.

Re: Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media', which is untrue

#14

Post by rektide »

S33V wrote: post #3

Here's Twitter's documentation on how they identify state-affiliated media[1]. This excerpt makes the decision seem outside of the defined process: 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. Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entitie…

Just one example, the NPR article on NPR laying a bunch of people off has this disclosure at the end:

> Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Acting Chief Business Editor Emily Kopp. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/22/1158710498/npr-layoffs-2023

This is a protocol specifically on "reporting on [themselves]" but it's a solid-ish example of the org not being a top-down controlled entity, and indeed, of making sure the org can report transparently on itself. NPR feels extremely not government controlled.

Re: Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media', which is untrue

#15

Post by nyerp »

The article states "More than 99% of NPR's funds do not come from federal sources" and yet elaborates "NPR ... gets the bulk of its direct financial support from two sources: sponsorships and fees paid by hundreds of member stations." How are those member stations funded? Through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which receives a $465 million federal appropration each year.

So can the Federal Government exert pressure through "financial resources" or "indirect political pressure", per the Twitter policy? You bet. Does the NPR model naturally align itself to bigger government with more grant-making power? Definitely.

I think Twitter could have come down on either side. It's a grey area. But how could the NPR story fail to mention the $465 million?

See also https://www.npr.org/about-npr/178660742/public-radio-finance... where NPR makes the opposite argument, namely, that "Federal funding is *essential* to public radio's service to the American public and its continuation is critical for both stations and program producers, including NPR."

Re: Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media', which is untrue

#16

Post by 2022-11-07 »

This is not a very convincing defense. Most foreign outlets Twitter and US media label state-affiliated are not directly controlled by the state. It's more like, hey, this institution gets a lot of its funding from, or has close ties to, the state, so just watch out for that which is 100% true here.

NPR was literally created by an act of congress. You can't be honest and say in good faith it's not state affiliated.

Re: Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media', which is untrue

#17

Post by fwlr »

NPR makes a good case that the “funded by the state” clause isn’t applicable to them. Directly is knockdown, they have that “less than 1%” statistic. Indirect funding clause seems like a wash - they are supported by member fees, which some members pay with state grants and others pay with revenue.

Distribution is also clearly not controlled by the state, production is less clear but probably still not materially so.

Which leaves “state editorial control” as the likely cause of this. Many people would say the state doesn’t have editorial control of NPR, many others would say it does. Editorial influence likewise.

Re: Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media', which is untrue

#18

Post by tailspin2019 »

> NPR ... initially assumed it was applied by mistake, NPR spokesperson Isabel Lara said. "We were not warned. It happened quite suddenly last night," Lara said.

> In response to an NPR email for this story seeking comment and requesting details about what in particular might have led to the new designation, the company's press account auto-replied with a poop emoji...

Sigh.

Re: Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media', which is untrue

#19

Post by egberts1 »

fwlr wrote: post #17

NPR makes a good case that the “funded by the state” clause isn’t applicable to them. Directly is knockdown, they have that “less than 1%” statistic. Indirect funding clause seems like a wash - they are supported by member fees, which some members pay with state grants and others pay with revenue. Distribution is also clearly not controlled by the state, production is less clear but probably still not materially so.…

Please ignore the $465M that NPR affiliated stations received from Federal government.

See also https://www.npr.org/about-npr/178660742/public-radio-finance... where NPR makes the opposite argument, namely, that "Federal funding is essential to public radio's service to the American public and its continuation is critical for both stations and program producers, including NPR."

Re: Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media', which is untrue

#20

Post by vannevar »

nyerp wrote: post #15

The article states "More than 99% of NPR's funds do not come from federal sources" and yet elaborates "NPR ... gets the bulk of its direct financial support from two sources: sponsorships and fees paid by hundreds of member stations." How are those member stations funded? Through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which receives a $465 million federal appropration each year. So can the Federal Government exert…

By this same logic, all television networks are "state-affiliated media", because they all depend on local stations that hold federally-granted broadcast licenses. So add Fox Broadcasting, NBC, CBS, etc., etc. to your list.
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