Wednesday, Dec. 07, 2011
News of Osama bin Laden's Death Breaks on Twitter
On May 1, select journalists received simple, three-word e-mails from the White House: "Get to work." The President had an announcement to make, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said. Almost immediately, speculation of the news erupted on Twitter, and many zeroed in on a possible Osama bin Laden announcement. At 10:25 p.m. E.T., Keith Urbahn (@keithurbahn), chief of staff for former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was the first who seemed to confirm the suspicions. President Obama confirmed bin Laden's death himself during a live broadcast announcement at 11:35 p.m. Maybe next time he makes a major announcement, he'll tweet it first.