NPR Quits Twitter, Eliminating A Prominent Source Of Fake News On Platform

National Public Radio (NPR) says it will cease association with Twitter.

The publicly-funded outlet released a statement Wednesday announcing the move. NPR cites Elon Musk recently labeling the brand "US state-affiliated media” on the platform for its decision to depart, saying:

“NPR’s organizational accounts will no longer be active on Twitter because the platform is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent,” the broadcaster said in a statement. “We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence.”

Well, that's certainly one way to eliminate a source of fake news on Twitter.

Over the weekend, Twitter updated NPR's label to “government-funded media." However, NPR CEO John Lansing called said update “unacceptable."

Lansing says the tag undermines its credibility.

We disagree.

A) NPR did that to itself by publishing articles such as a recent one arguing biological men do not have an athletic advantage over women. B) The label is quite accurate.

NPR is a type of government-funded media. The outlet is dependent on taxpayer funding.

Don't take our word for it. Take NPR's.

Per its own website, "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."

And as a Washington DC radio host Vince Coglianese cites, NPR's claim that it receives just 1 percent of funding from the federal government is deceiving.

That percentage includes only direct grants. Yet fees from 1,000+ member stations account for the second largest source of revenue at NPR, stations in which as much as 23 percent of funding comes via taxpayer dollars.

Government-funded media, indeed.

Next, NPR's departure from Twitter could be short-lived. It would not be the first left-wing account to claim its exit only to return shortly after.

Hey, Stephen King is still tweeting.

NPR needs Twitter more than the inverse.

While only 8 percent of the US population is “active” on Twitter, the platform indirectly affects a much higher percentage of the population.

Twitter is the de-facto aggregator of news, which various sources use to create rundowns, aggregate articles, and talking points -- accounting for a reach far greater than 8 percent of society.

Television bookers and writers spend much time scouring the social media service for content. So while readership may not drop substantially sans Twitter, NPR articles are less likely to receive references on cable news or citation from other publications that discover most content via Twitter.

Set the over/under at two months for a return for the government-funded media account called @NPR.