I can understand celebrities and public figures not wanting to pay for the check mark as they’re essentially an asset to Twitter. On other social media platforms, content creators with that many views and follower get paid, not vice versa.
However I admit to curiosity as to why governments and news agencies are reluctant to pay the 1k/month. It seems like they derive value from the platform and it’s not an unreasonable expense.
However it could totally be argued that they’re also content creators, and the frequent irrational hijinks with policy changes combined with Musk’s vociferous and vituperative denunciations of government and media, along with his very outspoken political leanings have made the platform toxic for that class of industry.
I think Musk himself is likely keeping media organizations from subscribing, and possibly some federal/state/local governments, which would otherwise be a rational no-brainer.
However, if the check mark is not a reliable indicator of genuineness or some other desired characteristic to distinguish an account from others, paying for it becomes unattractive.
I imagine there are more candidates in line for an “NPR” handle compared to a “realDonaldTrump” handle.
Also, regarding the linked NPR article accusing Musk of threatening them, they have an obvious bias, but the author speaks as though he is a third party. They find a professor to label what Musk did as an “extraordinary threat”, and go on to say about Twitter’s removal of NPR’s government-funded label, “Musk has since removed the labels, but the outlets originally targeted have not resumed public activity on Twitter.”
I think between the two you’ve misidentified the clown show.
Ad Fontes Media rates NPR in the Middle category of bias and as Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting in terms of reliability. NPR (National Public Radio) is an independent, nonprofit media organization that reaches millions each week through its radio stations, website, social media, podcasts and other formats. NPR Bias and Reliability | Ad Fontes Media
On the other hand, working from home might be the only option if you decide not to pay the rent on your company’s offices and your landlord throws you out:
