Tipsheet

PBS Has a Twitter Announcement of Their Own

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  April 13, 2023 8:15 AM

As Spencer has been covering, NPR dramatically announced it would be leaving Twitter after being labeled "state-affiliated media" which was later changed to "government-funded media." Now, PBS has an announcement of their own, as they too are leaving the social media platform, sort of.

As The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, PBS said it has stopped tweeting since last Saturday. Their last tweet indeed come from the @PBS account on April 8. There's still a $5.00 donation button though, and the pinned tweet from April 1 details how they'll be celebrating "#ArabAmericanHeritageMonth, #EarthMonth, National Poetry Month and Jazz Appreciation Month? (& so many others!)"

Mentioned in the report is that "unlike NPR, the organization left the door open to return at some point." A statement is also included, with PBS having said that its editorial independence "is central to our work, and will never change... Twitter’s simplistic label leaves the inaccurate impression that PBS is wholly funded by the federal government. PBS is primarily funded by the public and philanthropic organizations, with only a small portion of our funding coming from entities affiliated with government."

That "small portion" is not nothing, though. 

PBS spokesman Jeremy Gaines is quoted as having said on Wednesday that "we don’t have any plans to return. We’re monitoring the situation closely."

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So, while Gaines may say they "don't have plans to return," others are taking it to mean something different. Further, let's not forget that when news outlets claim something along the lines of they're "monitoring the situation closely," that could hold very little weight to it. CBS News claimed as much back in November due to "security concerns" and then went on to resume Twitter activity less than 48 hours later, offering they would "continue to monitor the situation." 

The NPR accounts are also still up, with several of the most recent tweets from their @NPR account telling users to find them on other platforms. Otherwise their most recent tweet is from April 4. 

"PBS and NPR" are trending on Twitter as people mock the decision, including Elon Musk, especially since the outlets do take in government funds and still have their accounts.