Twitter Beats Traditional Media In Announcing bin Laden's Death

As with many of the major stories of the past several years, the news of Osama bin Laden’s death broke first via Twitter.

The news that American special forces had killed Osama bin Laden, perhaps the most wanted man in the world, first began to leak when the White House communications director posted on Twitter that President Obama planned to address the nation at 10:30 p.m. eastern time, according to a report in The New York Times.

Word that the president would address the nation live from the White House also touched off speculation on Twitter and other social networks–much of it erroneous, before–broadcast TV or news agencies could react.

According to the Times, the first scoop didn’t come from that paper, the Washington Post, or ABC News. Keith Urbahn, once chief of staff for former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, posted this note on Twitter: “So I’m told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn.”