Elon Musk has said that he may give National Public Radio’s Twitter account to another group after it announced it will no longer be using the platform following a feud between the individual and the state-funded media outlet.
The fact that NPR is owned and operated by the U.S. government is precisely what kicked off these disputes, with Musk’s Twitter attaching a “state-affiliated media” label onto NPR in April. Later on, Musk switched the description to “government-funded media” in an effort to appease the outlet.
NPR reacted by saying it would protest the new classification by revealing it plans to stop posting on Twitter entirely.
“NPR and our member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide,” announced John Lansing, the CEO, and president of NPR. “It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy.”
A CNBC report on the matter said that Musk has removed the warning labels that were previously applied to NPR.
We were able to verify this as well after taking a quick look at the outlet’s Twitter page, which features a banner at the top reading, “Always free and independent. Always on NPR.org.”
A chain of correspondence posted online by NPR Tuesday showed that Musk had posed handing the account over to a different firm.
“So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?” Musk asked, according to NPR.
“Our policy is to recycle handles that are definitively dormant,” reads another email. “Same policy applies to all accounts. No special treatment for NPR.”
After being asked what company would ultimately secure control of the Twitter account, Musk reportedly answered “National Pumpkin Radio,” along with a laughing emoji.
He wrote, “NPR isn’t tagged as government-funded anymore, so what’s the beef?”
Numerous users of Twitter have taken to the platform to make fun of NPR after its latest clash with Musk. Conservative political commentator, Paul Joseph Watson referred to the situation as a “hilarious development,” while another account called @Liberacrat shared an NPC meme making fun of the state-funded media outlet.
— Liberacrat™️ (@Liberacrat) May 3, 2023
Following NPR’s posting of the piece about the threatened account reassignment, Musk reportedly blasted a brief email, with the phrase, “You suck,” written in the subject line, joined by nothing else.
