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NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'

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Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'

#381

Post by burkaman »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #357
jacquesm wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Besides the fact that they receive only a tiny percentage of their funding from the government the bigger issue is that of editorial control and NPR is pretty clean as far as I can see. Unlike most of the other entities labeled 'State Affiliated Media'. Naming NPR in one breath with those others is intentionally tarnishing them and playing to the crowd, which is something that Elon has been engaging in in a very spec…

> they receive only a tiny percentage of their funding from the government There are at least two ways they get government funding: - direct funding from the federal government - payment from member stations (at least 31% of revenue) who are themselves supported by government funding Without looking at the funding sources of each NPR member station, it's hard to come up with a good estimate, but it's probably a doubl…

Why not just look at the NPR page we're discussing, which says 13% of public radio station revenue is from federal funds? 13% of 31% is 4%.

Edit: The 13% is from all government funds, not just federal.

Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'

#383

Post by [deleted] »

burkaman wrote: post #381
rahimnathwani wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they receive only a tiny percentage of their funding from the government There are at least two ways they get government funding: - direct funding from the federal government - payment from member stations (at least 31% of revenue) who are themselves supported by government funding Without looking at the funding sources of each NPR member station, it's hard to come up with a good estimate, but it's probably a doubl…

Why not just look at the NPR page we're discussing, which says 13% of public radio station revenue is from federal funds? 13% of 31% is 4%. Edit: The 13% is from all government funds, not just federal.

[deleted]

Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'

#384

Post by snowwrestler »

There’s a lot of focus in comments on the funding. But let’s say you are an engineer at Meta. And the next time you log into Twitter, your personal Twitter account has a label that says “Meta-affiliated account.” Would that seem fair or accurate?

Even though you get most of your personal income from your employer, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are directing what you do and say on your own social media accounts. Unless you are communicating in some professional capacity on behalf of your employer, like PR.

It’s similar with the concept of “state-affiliated media” (a concept which predates Twitter, by the way). The deciding factor is how much the media operation is doing, essentially, the PR work of the government.

Maybe with Biden in office, some poorly-informed conservatives would be willing to believe NPR is taking direction from the government. But during the Trump presidency? It’s obvious from even a cursory review of NPR content over the years that they are frequently at odds with the contemporaneous administration. Whereas state-affiliated media always is aligned, by definition.

Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'

#385

Post by fortuna86 »

anonymouskimmer wrote: post #353
smotched wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"media"

Various companies in China are on US embargo lists because they are state-affiliated. Parsing out "media" companies is just hyper-targeting of ire. All companies that post tweets are effectively media. So why only highlight "news media" on a publication app such as Twitter?

China controls their state media, NPR/BBC etc. have state funding but remain editorially independent.

Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'

#386

Post by mb9000 »

gkoberger wrote: post #298

Musk (and Trump) are really, really good at vocally saying things everyone agrees with to cover the fact they're doing the exact opposite. They're populist champions to such a degree that their supporters (and even the media / independents) can't fathom they don't actually care at all. Free speech, no wars, anti-corruption in DC, etc. These are all things most people agree with. If some of the stuff Trump/Elon did se…

Maybe the average person just likes one brand of hypocrite over the other brand.

And what sort of secret stuff has Trump or Elon done that hasn't been covered 100x by the media?

Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'

#387

Post by nilptr »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #359
hklgny wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone likes to blame the server interface, but honestly that's not so bad and I think most people get over it. Mastodon's real problem in my opinion is that its primary audience today doesn't actually want anyone new to join - it's VERY toxic for newcomers who don't fit a specific mold. It's a shame, cause we really do need something new. I'm hoping some of the new decentralized ones take off. Edit: I think the co…

> it's VERY toxic for newcomers who don't fit a specific mold. I have not experienced that ... at all. Surely this is highly instance dependent.

Have you considered you fit the mold?

Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'

#388

Post by anonymouskimmer »

fundad wrote: post #378
anonymouskimmer wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Should Elon's account (or SpaceX or Telsa) have the same label because of their significant government funding? My first thought. How much in easy loans have his companies received from the government? This is just rich people hating on the industry that publicly critiques them.

[flagged]

I think he would be much more psychology healthy if he dropped social media. From what I guess about his personality, it's bad for him, and also probably doesn't address any of his psychological needs. Bad habits can be hard to break, but man does he go all in.

Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'

#389

Post by crisdux »

NPR's funding does not come solely from direct appropriation. NPR receives a higher amount of federal funding than what is commonly believed. It is difficult to determine the exact amount of federal funding because it is hidden within the fees paid by local affiliates. These local affiliates receive a significant portion of their funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is itself funded by federal tax dollars.

Congressional appropriation > Corporation for Public Broadcasting > grants for local affiliates > fee paid to NPR

Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'

#390

Post by anonymouskimmer »

fortuna86 wrote: post #385
anonymouskimmer wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Various companies in China are on US embargo lists because they are state-affiliated. Parsing out "media" companies is just hyper-targeting of ire. All companies that post tweets are effectively media. So why only highlight "news media" on a publication app such as Twitter?

China controls their state media, NPR/BBC etc. have state funding but remain editorially independent.

Yes, I know. Just pointing out that media isn't the only industry that's state funded to the person who's comment was just "media".
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