ABC, CBC/Radio-Canada, KBS and RNZ designated as “Government-funded Media”
The Global Task Force for public media is calling on Twitter to correct the designation of four of its members, which have been labelled as “Government-funded Media”. This misleading label was applied without warning or consultation to the accounts of four organisations: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), CBC/Radio-Canada, Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and Radio New Zealand (RNZ).
Twitter’s own policy defines government-funded media as cases where the government “may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content,” which is clearly not the case with ABC, CBC/Radio-Canada, KBS or RNZ. The editorial independence of all four national public broadcasters is protected in law and enshrined in their editorial policies.
Labelling them in this way misleads audiences about their operational and editorial independence from government.
Earlier this month, Twitter also applied the “Government-funded Media” label to several BBC accounts, before changing it to “Publicly-funded media” after objections from the public broadcaster. The BBC is also a member of the Global Task Force.
Twitter’s approach to labelling on the basis of funding misunderstands the fundamental concept of public service media: they are publicly funded organisations that are statutorily independent of government influence. This model has served audiences well in democratic countries for much of the last century.
In an article covering the impact so far on public service media worldwide, the Public Media Alliance (which acts as the secretariat for the Global Task Force) said it “once again implores [Twitter’s] management to reconsider their policy.”
If Twitter is to apply any of its existing labels to ABC, CBC/Radio-Canada, KBS and RNZ, the most accurate and appropriate label would be “Publicly-funded media”.
The Global Task Force for public media is:
- David Anderson, Managing Director, ABC (Australia)
- Tim Davie, Director General, BBC (United Kingdom)
- Delphine Ernotte Cunci, President & CEO, France Télévisions (France)
- Norbert Himmler, Director General, ZDF (Germany)
- Kim Eui-chul, President & CEO, KBS (South Korea)
- Jim Mather, Chair of the Board, RNZ (New Zealand)
- Hanna Stjärne, Director General, SVT (Sweden)
- Catherine Tait, President & CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada, GTF Chair (Canada)
About the Global Task Force
The Global Task Force for public media exists to promote and defend the values of public media—access, accuracy, accountability, creativity, impartiality, independence and high standards of journalism—all of which underpin an informed and healthy democracy.
Media contact:
Leon Mar
Director, Media Relations and Issues Management | Corporate Spokesperson
CBC/Radio-Canada
