Twitter officially overtaking traditional news sources

Following the story that Twitter was first to report the plane crash in the Hudson River story. Tech Crunch has reported that Sky News has created a new job. Its new Twitter Correspondent has been hired to ensure the Sky Network is on top of the stories that we are all happily tweeting. Mike Butcher shares his comments:

“The fact that a major news organisation like Sky News has now recognised it needs a dedicated person – Ruth Barnett is now their “Twitter correspondent”, possibly the first for by a 24hr TV news channel – to scour Twitter for potentially breaking news stories, speaks volumes. It also serves as a warning to those who might think that what they say on Twitter “in the clear” (in public) will go unnoticed by the wider world.”

Robin Goad of Hitwise also reported today that last week Twitter received more traffic that the traditional news sources such as Guardian, Times, Sun and Telegraph.

Twitter certainly seems to be finding its feet as a news source. I wonder if this means we will soon be seeing more of the media creating similar positions. In a time when jobs are being cut in the media this is certainly interesting – I wonder if it is going to be the start of a new trend?

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