The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has made a significant change in how it communicates with the press regarding plane crashes, opting to use Elon Musk's X as the sole platform for updates. According to the agency, this move is intended to "better manage" the volume of incoming emails related to two recent incidents in Washington, DC, and Philadelphia.

As reported earlier by The Desk, the NTSB will utilize its @NTSB_Newsroom account on X to share news conferences and other investigative information. However, the agency has clarified that reporters should still email mediarelations@ntsb.gov for all other inquiries. The NTSB media relations team has traditionally used Twitter/X to inform the media and public about the time and location of media briefings, but the decision to rely solely on X raises questions about the agency's process and motivations.

This development comes at a time when the US Department of Defense is also making changes to its media relations. According to a report from NBC, the DoD is removing major outlets like NBC News, The New York Times, NPR, and Politico from their dedicated workstations in the Pentagon. Instead, the DoD will implement an "annual media rotation program" that will replace these outlets with conservative-leaning ones, such as One America News Network, the New York Post, and Breitbart. HuffPost will also be included, despite not having a Pentagon correspondent.

The Trump administration has been accused of targeting media networks in various ways, including the Federal Communications Commission's investigations into NPR and PBS over their financial sponsors. The NTSB's decision to rely on X, a privately owned social media platform, has sparked concerns about the potential for biased or restricted access to information.

As the tech industry continues to grapple with issues of platform dominance and the role of private companies in shaping public discourse, the NTSB's move raises important questions about the boundaries between government agencies and private social media platforms. With the increasing reliance on digital channels for information dissemination, it remains to be seen how this development will impact the way news is consumed and reported.

In the broader context, this shift highlights the ongoing evolution of communication strategies employed by government agencies and private companies alike. As the digital landscape continues to shift, it is essential to examine the implications of such decisions on the flow of information and the role of technology in shaping our understanding of the world.