Global Courant 2023-04-17 13:10:02
Radio New Zealand says the ‘government-funded’ label is not a reflection of the broadcaster’s editorial independence.
New Zealand’s public radio broadcaster has threatened to leave Twitter following Elon Musk’s decision to label certain media accounts as “government-funded”.
Megan Whelan, head of content for Radio New Zealand, said on Monday that the label, which Twitter uses to describe outlets that have “varying degrees of government involvement in editorial content”, does not reflect the broadcaster’s editorial independence.
“Our editorial independence is not only protected by law, we vigorously guard it,” Whelan said in a statement posted on Twitter.
“Over the next few days, we will consider our options, including talking to Twitter to have the label removed or revised, or as other public media outlets around the world have done, abandon the platform.”
The statement from RNZ comes after the state-funded National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service in the United States left Twitter in protest at what they see as Musk’s attempts to undermine their legitimacy.
Twitter has in recent days added the label “government-funded” to government-funded outlets, including Britain’s BBC, Canada’s CBC, Voice of America and Al Jazeera, following an earlier decision to introduce a “state-funded” label. affiliated media” applying to NPR drew a backlash.
Before Musk took control of Twitter last year, “state-affiliated media” was reserved for government spokespersons such as China’s Xinhua and Russia’s RT.
Musk later suggested the NPR decision was a mistake, saying it “may not be right” to describe the broadcaster as state media.
New Zealand radio threatens to shut down Twitter
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