CEO of fully US-gov't-funded media outlet calls 'government-funded' label 'potentially misleading'

Sarah D | 1:43 PM on April 14, 2023

NPR and PBS are still salty about being labeled as “government-funded media” by Elon Musk’s Twitter, even though both entities receive government funding. “But we get funding from other places, too! Not just from taxpayers’ money that’s laundered through the federal government! People can voluntarily donate to us and get a nifty tote bag as a thank-you gift!” they cry.

OK, well, what happens when a media outlet that is entirely funded by the government and admits that it’s entirely funded by the government gets labeled as “government-funded media” on Twitter? Let’s ask the head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media:

Head of U.S. government news agency funded *entirely* by the government ($810 million) says it is "misleading" for @elonmusk to put a "government-funded" label on its Twitter account. @FreeBeacon https://t.co/A3cRPpHwjI

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) April 14, 2023

More from the Washington Free Beacon:

Amanda Bennett, the CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, rejected the label during a State Department briefing when asked about Twitter’s designation of Voice of America, a subsidiary of the agency, as “government-funded media.” Twitter added the label to several American outlets, including NPR, which is partially funded by the government.

“We completely reject the implications of the label ‘government-funded,’” said Bennett, according to a State Department transcript. “Of course we’re government-funded, but it’s potentially misleading.”

Bennett, a former director of Voice of America, claimed that the label could be misconstrued as “government-controlled.” She insisted that the U.S. Agency for Global Media and its subsidiaries are “independent” and “not government-controlled.”