‘Defund NPR’ was trending on X Tuesday following Musk’s post
Elon Musk renewed calls on Tuesday to defund NPR after a controversial video of its CEO questioning the importance of truth resurfaced online.
Footage of NPR CEO Katherine Maher from an August 2021 Ted Talk reappeared on X Tuesday, sparking new debate over the taxpayer funded broadcaster’s alleged bias, which has come under scrutiny in recent months.
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In the 10-second clip, Maher questioned the role truth plays in the industry as the then-CEO of Wikimedia. She took over as CEO of NPR in March 2024.
Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of Twitter, Elon Musk gestures as he attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center on June 16, 2023, in Paris, France. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images / Getty Images)
“I think our reverence for the truth might have become a bit of a distraction that is preventing us from finding consensus and getting important things done,” Maher told the crowd.
Musk shared the clip to his 204.3 million followers with the caption, “Should your tax dollars really be paying for an organization run by people who think the truth is a ‘distraction’?”
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His dig is the latest in a months-long feud with the broadcasting organization, with Maher at the helm. In April, The Tesla and Space X CEO posted a screenshot of a press inquiry asking Musk what his reaction was to more than 50 NPR accounts leaving X, to which he responded “defund NPR.”
Days earlier, NPR announced it would be dropping X, then Twitter, over “credibility” concerns after their account was labeled “state-affiliated media.” Twitter later changed the outlet’s label to “government-funded media.”
“We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence,” NPR said in a statement at the time. “We are turning away from Twitter but not from our audience and communities. There are plenty of ways to stay connected and keep up with NPR’s news, music, and cultural content.”
Musk responded by asking in a separate tweet, “what have you got against the truth @NPR?”
Katherine Maher, CEO, Web Summit on Centre Stage during the opening night of Web Summit Qatar 2024 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Doha, Qatar. (Photo By Harry Murphy/Sportsfile for Web Summit Qatar via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Musk later reportedly threatened to give the outlet’s handle and account username “@NPR” to another account if it remained inactive on the platform.
Allegations of ideological bias in NPR’s newsroom were outlined in a scathing essay published in April by senior editor Uri Berliner, who has since left the organization. Berliner detailed his concerns of bias toward his employer, revealing that the NPR Washington, D.C., newsroom held zero Republicans, compared to 87 Democrats.
His essay prompted Congressional Republicans to apply pressure to both NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) demanding action to ensure the broadcaster’s integrity and address Berliner’s allegations.
It also led to bills being discussed in both chambers of Congress to cut the organization’s funding.
