Major news outlets refuse to pay for Twitter's blue tick verification: Report
Starting from April 1, Twitter will no longer provide the blue checkmark to signify an active subscription to Twitter Blue.
Following Twitter's decision to wind down its legacy verification programme, some American news organizations have publicly announced that they will not pay for any kind of subscription, according to a CNN reporter, Oliver Darcy. Starting from April 1, Twitter will no longer provide the blue checkmark to signify an active subscription to Twitter Blue. To receive or keep the blue checkmark, subscribers will need to meet the eligibility criteria specified by Twitter.
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This "Verified for Organizations" programme is now available globally, but several businesses worldwide are not willing to pay the $1,000 monthly fee to retain their verified checkmarks, along with an additional $50 for each affiliated Twitter account. For instance, in India, this translates to ₹82,300 (or nearly ₹9.88 lakh per year) for the organisation and ₹4,120 for affiliate accounts (nearly ₹50,000 annually). This decision has raised concerns among news organizations about the role of the blue checkmark in establishing their credibility as legitimate sources of information.
Darcy has shared a tweet thread detailing various news organisations' reactions to the new verification policy. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and BuzzFeed are among the news organisations that have chosen not to pay for verification.
According to a spokesperson from The New York Times, the organisation has no plans to pay the monthly fee to obtain verified checkmark status for its institutional Twitter accounts. “We aren't planning to pay the monthly fee for checkmark status for our institutional Twitter accounts. We also will not reimburse reporters for Twitter Blue for personal accounts, except in rare instances where this status would be essential for reporting purposes,” NYT spokesperson was quoted as saying according to Darcy
An internal memo from The Los Angeles Times' managing editor said that the company will not pay for Twitter Blue, nor will it pay to verify the organisation, stating that "verification no longer establishes authority or credibility" and that Twitter is "not as reliable as it once was."
The Washington Post has also stated that it will not pay for the service. "The Washington Post will not pay for Twitter Blue service as an institution or on behalf of our journalists. It's evident that verified checkmarks no longer represent authority and expertise "Darcy's tweet read citing spokesperson.
Vox Media also rejected the idea of paying for a Twitter checkmark. "While Vox Media will take advantage of legacy account verification when provided to our brand accounts, it will generally not pay for employees to keep or gain Twitter verification," a spokesperson for the media company was quoted as saying.
According to BuzzFeed, a checkmark no longer means "verified" or "reliable."
"As an organisation, we (BuzzFeed) will not cover fees for individuals to keep their blue checkmarks moving forward. There are several reasons for this, but one outweighs them all: a blue checkmark no longer means the handle is 'verified’,” read Darcy’s tweet.
