Blocking links to unflattering stories? That was Twitter 1.0 and the Hunter Biden laptop story, but we haven’t heard many apologies for that one. Now Twitter is owned by Elon Musk, who reportedly threatened to assign the @NPR handle to another company seeing as NPR had pledged to pull its 50+ accounts from the social media network in response to being labeled government-funded media. Why would NPR care?
NPR tech reporter, who’s still using the service to get clicks on his stories, has the scoop:
NEW: In a series of emails today, Elon threatened to reassign @NPR to "another company" unless the network started tweeting again
(link actually works this time)https://t.co/ffFIjYhxwX
— Bobby Allyn (@BobbyAllyn) May 3, 2023
Allyn even posted the entire story on Twitter, “since, for some reason, the story appears to be blocked on here.”
Ace reporter Aaron Rupar was on the story immediately, tweeting that “Musk is now totally blocking links to unflattering stories, such as the one below. Very normal behavior.”
Posting stories without fact-checking them is very normal behavior for Rupar.
Also getting in on the action was Daily Beast senior media reporter Justin Baragona, who tweeted, “Just to show how truly petty Elon Musk is, you can’t open this link to the NPR story on this site.”
Oops.
Story in 3 parts.
NPR tech reporter writes story critical of Musk/Twitter and claims they are blocking the link to his story. Usual suspects make claim go viral. Turns out he just posted a bad link. pic.twitter.com/wxLPIVGXtq
— AG (@AGHamilton29) May 3, 2023
Seems like might have been worthwhile for some of these people to check if it was just a bad link before running with claim that the platform was blocking the story… pic.twitter.com/qDmqt2uhZ2
— AG (@AGHamilton29) May 3, 2023
Recommended
The media rarely fact-checks stories that confirm their priors.
— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) May 3, 2023
That’s what happens when there are no real consequences for getting it wrong…
— AG (@AGHamilton29) May 3, 2023
Rupar? Being less than truthful? pic.twitter.com/5oqZu9a6ci
— Social Distance Champion (@realchrishynes) May 3, 2023
Safe to assume Rupar, et al didn’t issue apologies or retractions?
— Bojac (@HeartlessBojac) May 3, 2023
I mean, Baragona thought Fox producers added googly eyes to AOC when they were just her normal eyes 😂😂
— Veterans for Liberty (@Vets4AP) May 3, 2023
The first principle of journalism is now confirmation bias
— brown_te (@brown_te) May 3, 2023
NPR tech reporter…. Say no more.
— degree zero (@davidcomdico) May 3, 2023
They're just projecting. pic.twitter.com/L2IHWwyVkX
— Axeman (@TheAxemander) May 3, 2023
It gets cut off, but here’s Judd Legum’s take: “Musk claims to be a ‘free speech absolutist’ but he is currently blocking links on Twitter to this NPR article which describes how Musk threatened to give NPR’s Twitter handle to someone else if NPR didn’t start tweeting again. I’m posting screenshots so it can circulate.”
— Daniel (@zoohost) May 3, 2023
You’ll remember Legum was furious when Community Notes added context to his “100% ACCURATE TWEET.”
Everyone should have known it was a lie when Aaron Rupar tweeted it. That guy is never correct about anything, he makes sure of it.
— Glen Franklin (@BiologyIs4Real) May 3, 2023
They ALWAYS look like that. pic.twitter.com/XveTnl6TBK
— POV (@88_POV_88) May 3, 2023
Disappointed Brooklyn Dad hasn’t weighed in.
— Reclaiming My Everything (@WhyIsKorisTaken) May 3, 2023
No one paid him to.
***
Related:
Buh-BYE.
Elon Musk’s reaction to PBS joining NPR in taking their ball and going home is hilarious PERFECTIONhttps://t.co/fSapY3NRTA
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 13, 2023
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