It seems like being on Twitter a lot is a great way of staying on top of a) news in niche areas (the kind of things that nobody around me is bothered about), and b) little news (the kind of news that someone else will mention half an hour after I have read about it.)

But days like yesterday when there is 'big news', it's funny how I never seem to hear it first on Twitter. Yesterday, someone who had walked past a TV in the office told us that Margaret Thatcher had died. (My first reaction– check Twitter to see what was going on.)

When the 7/7 bombing happened in London, the first I heard was a phone call from my mum, who had heard it on the radio.

Unless you are literally living in Twitter – and don't get me wrong, I'm not denying that I have days like that – then when news hits that is so big that it hits the airwaves immediately, broadcast media is still the place to find out what is happening. Fact is, no matter how carefully selected the people you follow are, there are times when all hands in the newsroom turn to the TV. Where audiences are measured in millions on a daily basis (and not the meaningless "potential reach" kind of millions that people talk about when they want to make a Twitter campaign sound impressive). Where someone can be mic'd up and talking in front of a live camera while the web guys are still entering their passwords into the CMS…

Today, of course, it is the front page story for the papers. Which is probably the subject of a whole other post…

Some Random Nerd