NPR is indeed a propaganda machine. But only for one party, and its woke ideology. It doesn't even have to receive federal funding to acknowledge that. Now the technical question is what label do you put on a media platform that's captured by an ideology favorable to a single party which comes to power every few years?
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'
#542Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would assume a single account with 8.7 million followers isn't a big deal to Twitter. It's not like the 8.7 million NPR followers are unique to NPR and are going to disappear. Those 8.7 million followers probably follow 8.7 million other things themselves. I'd be willing to guess a single Kardashian has more followers than NPR (maybe I'm too cynical). Eventually, the way Musk is running Twitter, he'll give a free b…
That’s true to some extent but NPR and its people provide a ton of timely content which keeps users active. People like the “what’s going on” aspect and news organizations disproportionately help provide that.
Worst case, Twitter can set up something like "system accounts" that automatically fetch headlines from news websites or RSS feeds and post them with links on Twitter.
Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'
#543Should Twitter itself get a state sponsored label for getting concessions from San Francisco on their headquarters? https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-controller-hails-... Should Elon's account (or SpaceX or Telsa) have the same label because of their significant government funding? It's hard to see this as anything but silly politics games.
> 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.
1. SpaceX and Tesla do not publish news
2. If by "easy loans" you mean competing for contracts with the likes of BlueOrigin, Raytheon and Boeing, you ought to drop the word 'easy'
3. If the goal is getting back at the industry, one questions whether Elon Musk wouldn't have had an easier time just buying up a bunch of the papers like Bezos and Murdoch
4. Unlike the previous Twitter regime, Musk allows organisations free reign to critique anyone and anything they like. They just have to disclose who's paying for the criticism is all :)
Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'
#544Seems like a funny reaction to a label added as a subtitle to an organization with the name National Public Radio People get attached to words or phrases without thinking about what they actually mean, seems like definitions get modified to emotionally herd the [un]imaginative/initiated Wild that style of thinking goes that high up the chain at NPR the CEO sounds child-like with their response
Twitter defines state-affiliated media 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. [1]
This isn't an accurate description of NPR. The government has no control over the content.
> NPR receives less than 1% of its direct funding from the federal government [2]
Even Twitter recognized this and walked back the labeling. [3]
[1]: https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/state-affilia... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPR [3]: https://nypost.com/2023/04/10/twitter-rebrands-nprs-account-...
Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'
#545Earlier quoted context omitted.
> no mention of Mastodon in this announcement Mastodon blew its moment. It could have eaten Twitter’s lunch. But onboarding—specifically, choosing a server—was too tedious for non-niche adoption.
The internet blew its moment. But onboarding—specifically, choosing an ISP—was too tedious for non-niche adoption.
lol you wish
Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'
#546Earlier quoted context omitted.
Member stations are federally funded. Member stations pay NPR. To say that NPR doesn’t receive a significant portion of its budget from the federal government is a lie. This same argument is made whenever a politico mentions cutting funding to NPR. There is a large push to claim that NPR receives very little funding and it’s irrelevant to the network. But you can’t have it both ways. The lady doth protest too mightil…
Federally funded != State Affiliated. There is no one from the Biden Administration telling them what to say. By labeling them as such, Elon/Twitter are implying that NPR has a Goebbels-like figure running it, which is mendacious at best.
Perhaps more relevantly, by expanding the use of labels indicative of state association beyond the original use of “state-affiliated media” for those orgs which are editorially controlled by governments, Musk decreases the impact and clear distinction of that label, further normalizing and empowering the actual editorially-controlled state propaganda outlets operating on Twitter.
Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'
#547Earlier quoted context omitted.
>... why is it bad to let people know? It's not, as long as you're not doing it to specifically target one company or be a dick about it. Is he going to label his own companies with the same thing? >According to a Los Angeles Times investigation, Musk's companies had received an estimated $4.9 billion in government support by 2015, and they've gotten more since.[1] [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-list-g…
Musk doesn’t own a media company.
Tesla, a government-funded company, has the ability to remotely disable your car. Surely they'd be happy to do this at the government's request, no? Locking your car mid-drive and rerouting you using FSD because you said something the government didn't like?
SpaceX, a government-funded company, has the ability to put all kinds of invasive, espionage-focused payloads into space.
The point is, if we're going to insinuate that NPR is doing the bidding of the US government simply because a portion (however large or small) of the money they receive comes from the government, then we can insinuate the same kind of sentiment towards Musk's companies.
If you think it's important to know that a media company takes government money, why wouldn't it be important to know if other companies in other industries are similarly connected?
Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'
#548How on earth can anyone say "falsely labeled"? NPR does get money from the federal government, that is an undisputable fact. How are they not "state-affilated"? I don't care how small a % of the budget is money from the government. The fact they take any money at all from the gov makes them sate-affilated.
Okay, so when big media corps get cut deals by government, are they now state-affiliated? Is Disney state-affiliated, with no editorial independence, because Florida had granted them their own little kingdom? Your post might as well say: "I don't care what the facts are, my minds made up that NPR is a mouthpiece for the state." It's just not at all true. Stations pay for NPR content, and stations are member driven, d…
> Is Disney state-affiliated
Yes, clearly.
Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'
#549Re: NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as 'state-affiliated media'
#550Earlier quoted context omitted.
> no mention of Mastodon in this announcement Mastodon blew its moment. It could have eaten Twitter’s lunch. But onboarding—specifically, choosing a server—was too tedious for non-niche adoption.
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…
That hasn't been my experience. I joined a couple months ago and I have yet to see a single instance of toxicity in my feeds or replies. But I am guessing it greatly depends on the type of groups and content you interact with.
The great thing about Mastodon is that it doesn't push anything in my face that I didn't subscribe to.