Elon Musk and Lauren Boebert call for 'defunding' NPR after it leaves Twitter

13 April 2023

On Wednesday, April 12, National Public Radio (NPR) announced that it was leaving Twitter because the social media giant had labeled it "state-affiliated media" — a label it later changed to "government-funded media." NPR emphasized that the label was "inaccurate and misleading," as it is a "private nonprofit company" that "receives less than 1 percent of its $300 million annual budget from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting."

"State-affiliated media," NPR's David Folkenflik noted, is a label that Twitter applies to government-operated "propaganda outlets" in "autocratic countries" such as Russia and the People's Republic of China — which is radically different from what NPR does in the United States. Full disclosure: this journalist has been a guest on many NPR broadcasts.

Folkenflik explained, "The decision by Twitter last week took the public radio network off guard. When queried by NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn, Twitter owner Elon Musk asked how NPR functioned. Musk allowed that he might have gotten it wrong."

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk obviously isn't happy with NPR. On April 12, the Twitter owner posted, "Defund@NPR." And far-right Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), in agreement, tweeted, "I've been saying that for quite some time! Let's get it done!"

But Mother Jones' Clara Jeffrey, in response to Elon's tweet, posted, "NPR gets 1% of its funds from federal grants, grants which other non-profit newsrooms could apply for. Neither Tesla or SpaceX would exist without MASSIVE government subsidies. Should they be defunded?"

The Hill’s Stephen Neukam notes, "It was unclear whether Musk and Boebert were calling on the government to drop its funding of the outlet or were calling on readers and listeners to stop contributing to NPR, which accounts for a larger portion of the organization’s funding."

Founded in 1970, NPR has more than 1000 radio stations in the U.S. Some NPR stations, including WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, carry BBC programming from the U.K.

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