Elon Musk is known for voicing his controversial and sometimes provocative opinions on various topics, and his recent tweets on National Public Radio (NPR) was no exception. Recently, he sparked outrage among a number of people when he accused NPR of being state propaganda.
However, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO seems to have had a change of heart, as he recently took to Twitter to retract his statement, saying that he had spoken “too harshly” and that he now believes NPR is “valuable” and not at all state-controlled.
Musk first made the comments in an interview with the Times of London, where he suggested that NPR was fund-raising mainly to benefit the government and not listeners. He added that he thought NPR’s programming was “pandering” and did not provide unbiased news.
The tweet drew widespread backlash from the public and from NPR itself. Many argued that Musk was effectively trying to discredit one of the country’s leading sources of news and information. The network responded to Musk’s comments with a tweet of its own, writing that it was “proud” to be non-profit and non-partisan.
After receiving negative comments across multiple social media networks, Musk has decided to take back his comments. In a series of tweets, he explained that he “spoke too harshly” and that, while he was not convinced of all NPR’s “perspectives” on various news topics, he believed it did offer “valuable” journalism.
This sudden change-of-mind is a welcome one and is sure to be appreciated by NPR listeners and the network’s supporters alike. It’s also an important reminder that free and unbiased journalism is essential for a thriving democracy and it’s important for all of us to support and protect it.
