Share this page!

Caitlin Johnstone Profile picture
@caitoz
Apr 5 • 14 tweets • 10 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Of course NPR is US state-affiliated media. It's funded by the US government, all its reporting advances the information interests of the US government, and its CEO's last job was running overt propaganda organs of the US government. If it doesn't deserve that label, no one does. ImageImage
John Lansing's history is not an anomaly; NPR's CEOs routinely come directly out of US propaganda operations.
constantinereport.com/npr-pbs-and-th… ImageImageImage
The fact that a man who has spent his career facilitating US state-affiliated media now complains about his outlet correctly receiving that label is hilarious.
The main problem with the "state-affiliated media" label isn't that it's incorrect, it's that it's unevenly applied. That was the case before NPR was given that label, and it remains the case now. Many other outlets should carry this label if it's to have any meaning. ImageImage
Arguably ALL western mass media should carry the label "US state-affiliated media", since they all function as propaganda organs of the US empire. When your real government is corporations, corporate media is government media.
LMFAO
This is true it has been Twitter's policy not to label NPR "state-affiliated media", but that policy was always stupid for the reasons outlined above. Anyway Twitter has now edited that policy, while hilariously still claiming the BBC is not state media.
Image
While we're on the subject, Twitter itself should probably also carry the "US state-affiliated media" label, because it continues to facilitate the information interests of the US empire.
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/elon-musks-t…
Good point. When your government is run by oligarchs, receiving oligarch funding is the same as receiving government funding.
Not sure what point people think they're making when they say this. If I was receiving 2% of my funding from the Russian or Chinese government, there is a 100% chance that I'd have a "state-affiliated" label. Don't want the label, don't take the funding.
The problem with that is NPR itself claims its federal funding is "essential" for its operations, which kind of kills the "it's only a bit of state funding so it makes no difference" argument.
Okay but there's no basis for claiming this is true of NPR but not state-funded outlets like @BBCNews, @abcnews, @CBCNews, or @spagov, or overt US propaganda platforms like @VOANews and @RadioFreeAsia.
@BBCNews @abcnews @CBCNews @spagov @VOANews @RadioFreeAsia It seems the most likely explanation for this discrepancy is that NPR is only getting this label because NPR likes Democrats and @elonmusk does not.
@BBCNews @abcnews @CBCNews @spagov @VOANews @RadioFreeAsia @elonmusk Yep.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Caitlin Johnstone

Caitlin Johnstone Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @caitoz

Caitlin Johnstone Profile picture
Apr 5
Assange Is The Greatest Journalist Of All Time

Seriously, name me a superior journalist. Assange *began his journalism career* by revolutionizing source protection for the digital age, then proceeded to break some of the biggest stories of the century.
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/assange-is-t…
"Julian Assange is the world's greatest and most famous journalist and he's in prison solely for the crime of doing good journalism, but sure, let's all spend our time shaking our fists at far away 'authoritarian regimes' for imprisoning journalists."
soundcloud.com/going_rogue/as…
Assange Is The Greatest Journalist Of All Time

"That is the kind of civilization you live in. The kind that imprisons the best journalist of all time for doing journalism."
caitlinjohnstone.com/2023/04/05/ass…
Read 5 tweets
Caitlin Johnstone Profile picture
Apr 4
This is why people suffering from anti-China hysteria are the single dumbest group I interact with online. Look at the moronic bullshit they're fed day in and day out. They're having brain poison mainlined into their skulls.
“China is preparing to kill Americans and we have to prepare to defend ourselves."

You mean China is preparing to defend itself from a US intervention in an inter-Chinese conflict? A conflict on the other side of the planet from the US? Which you Gordon would not be fighting in?
“China is preparing to kill Americans"
Read 4 tweets
Caitlin Johnstone Profile picture
Apr 4
The 2016 US presidential election changed everything. Not because Trump himself changed things significantly (he didn't), but because the western media formed a consensus at that point that it's their solemn duty to help the US government win an information war against Russia.
A consensus quickly formed that it was wrong for the media to report on the 2016 WikiLeaks releases, which were alleged to have come from Russian hackers (though still not proven to this day). In that decision the last rays of real journalism in the mainstream media were quashed.
Once all mainstream journalists accepted that it's their job not to report true facts about the powerful but to advance the information interests of their government and/or prefered political party, it was over. The last glimmer of living in a truth-based society was snuffed out.
Read 5 tweets
Caitlin Johnstone Profile picture
Apr 4
Noted war propagandist @KnottMatthew commits journalistic malpractice by citing a think tanker from the war machine-funded Australian Strategic Policy Institute, without disclosing to the reader the immense conflict of interest in @ASPI_org's state and war profiteer funding.
@KnottMatthew @ASPI_org What part of "do the right thing and drum yourself out of Australian journalism" did you not understand, @KnottMatthew?
@KnottMatthew @ASPI_org "ASPI is the propaganda arm of the CIA and the U.S. government."
~ @bruce_haigh
mintpressnews.com/aspi-think-tan…
Read 4 tweets
Caitlin Johnstone Profile picture
Apr 3
Marco Rubio Accidentally Makes A Great Argument Against US Dollar Hegemony

"We won't have to talk about sanctions in 5 years, because there'll be so many countries transacting in currencies other than the dollar that we won't have the ability to sanction"
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/marco-rubio-…
Marco Rubio Accidentally Makes A Great Argument Against US Dollar Hegemony

"Here's hoping Marco Rubio is given a lot more to be upset about in the coming years."
soundcloud.com/going_rogue/ma…
Marco Rubio Accidentally Makes A Great Argument Against US Dollar Hegemony

"Some empire managers are so brash about wanting to rule the world that they'll occasionally voice their position so directly it sounds like an anti-imperialist said it."
caityjohnstone.medium.com/marco-rubio-ac…
Read 6 tweets
Caitlin Johnstone Profile picture
Apr 2
People who spend their time freaking out about China are the single dumbest group I interact with here. Not the nastiest, not the most aggressive, just the dumbest. They'll believe pretty much anything said by anyone, no matter how ridiculous, as long as it's critical of China.
The instant they see literally any negative claim about China from literally anyone, all their critical faculties go right out the window and they turn into a bunch of foam-brained imbeciles.
Probably the most famous of limitless possible examples:
indy100.com/celebrities/jo…
I guess it has its roots in the generations-long portrayal of the Chinese as a mysterious, inscrutable race whose culture is nothing like ours. That's the only explanation I can think of for why westerners ascribe motives and agendas to their government that make no sense at all.
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Send Email!

:(