Sweden public radio exits Twitter, says audience already has
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/04/2023 (1250 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
HELSINKI (AP) — Sweden’s public radio said Tuesday that it would stop being active on Twitter, but it did not blame new labels that Elon Musk ’s social media platform has slapped on public broadcasters, leading some major North American outlets to quit tweeting.
Sveriges Radio said on its blog that Twitter has lost its relevance to Swedish audiences. National Public Radio and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, meanwhile, have pointed to Twitter’s new policy of labeling them as government-funded instititutions, saying it undermines their credibility.
“For a long time, Sveriges Radio has de-prioritised its presence on Twitter and has now made the decision to completely stop being active on the platform, at the same time that we are shutting down a number of accounts,” said Christian Gillinger, head of the broadcaster’s social media activities.
He cited a recent study showing only some 7% of Swedes are on Twitter daily and said the platform “has simply changed over the years and become less important for us.”
“The audience has simply chosen other places to be. And therefore Sveriges Radio now chooses to deactivate or delete the last remaining accounts,” Gillinger said.
The broadcaster’s news service, SR Ekot, which has been labeled “publicly funded media,” will remain on Twitter but has been marked inactive.
Sveriges Radio, which has been active on Twitter since 2009, also noted the “recent turbulence” around Twitter’s operations and said it was worrying that the social media platform has reduced its workforce “dramatically.”
“We believe that it may in the long run affect the company’s capacity to handle, for example, fake accounts, bots and disinformation but also hate messages and threats,” Gillinger said.
The labels for public broadcasters have unleashed a new battle between reporters and Musk, who has long expressed disdain for professional journalists and said he wants to elevate the views and expertise of the “average citizen.”
Canada’s CBC said Monday that it would pause its activities on Twitter after it was labeled as “government-funded” because it “undermines the accuracy and professionalism” of its journalists’ work “to allow our independence to be falsely described in this way.”
U.S. broadcasters NPR and Public Broadcasting Service made similar decisions earlier this month for related reasons.
