Yes that's how words work, NPR is not State Affiliated media. No one from the government is there dictating what they report on or what projects they pursue. When a lab at a private college takes NIH funding to do research, that does not make the private research institution state affiliated. When oil and gas companies accept government subsidies, they are not labeled as state affiliated (and in this case oil and gas are far more deeply intertwined with the levers of government). Elon Musk is a reactionary polemic and these choices are obviously intended to further those goals.