Reuters
Followers: 580,000
Sample tweet: "FLASH: Twitter co-founder Stone says Twitter IPO 'too far off, not even discussing it internally'"
A Reuters FLASH whizzes through the Twittersphere with the same immediacy the agency's wire reports once did across a news ticker. Even though the majority of the venerable British news service's profits come from the financial information it sells, the brand is mainly known for its thousands of journalists stationed in every corner of the world. Reuters is among the handful of English-speaking outlets that has correspondents on the ground to cover items like the case of Cuba holding U.S. contractor Alan Gross on the charge of crimes against the state. Whether they are reporting themselves or curating local press clippings, the agency's journalists are often breaking news; their scoops are then announced via the agency's feed.
(Disclosure: This writer is a former stringer for the Thomson Reuters news agency.)