PBS Joins NPR in Dumping Twitter Over Elon Musk’s ‘Government-Funded’ Label
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Public television service PBS has joined NPR in ditching Twitter after “Chief Twit” Elon Musk labeled both news organizations “government-funded media” last week, though it has left a small possibility of returning. “PBS stopped tweeting from our account when we learned of the change and we have no plans to resume at this time,” a PBS spokesperson told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “We are continuing to monitor the ever-changing situation closely.” PBS, an editorially independent non-profit that receives some federal funding, ceased tweeting from its main account on Saturday. After tagging NPR as “state-affiliated media” earlier this month, prompting the network to protest that Musk was likening it to Russian and Chinese propaganda outlets, Twitter eventually changed its label to “government-funded,” while adding that designation to other organizations, such as PBS and BBC. (Twitter has since changed the BBC’s label to “publicly funded.”) NPR, which receives only 1 percent of its funding from the federal government and maintains its editorial independence, said it would “never have our content go anywhere that would risk our credibility” when departing the social media platform this week. Additionally, at least three other public radio stations have left the site amid Musk’s beef with public media. When asked for comment about the growing backlash by public news outlets against Twitter, the company responded with a poop emoji.