The cable networks, which at times leap too fast into a breaking story and misreport early on, were restrained in waiting until their reporters confirmed the news. As a result, they seemed a step or two behind the latest bit of information available on Twitter. Several TV journalists jumped back and forth between appearing on air and updating over Twitter.
But with early unconfirmed bin Laden reports floating online, some peculiar moments ensued as on-air reporters still held back from saying too much prior to an actual confirmation.
NBC’s Mike Viqueria, at one point, began reading a note sent to him by colleague Pete Williams on air that administration officials told the network what Obama would announce. But Viqueria cut himself off before breaking any news, saying he was now being told to hold off. Just a few minutes later, David Gregory told viewers that there would be a “major development” concerning bin Laden (while still not reporting his death).
Major news organizations soon confirmed bin Laden’s death, breaking the news first over Twitter and then online or on television.
CBS News producer Jill Jackson, one of the first journalists to verify the news, attributed the information to a “House Intelligence Committee aide.”
NBC, like other news outlets, also confirmed, and the network’s journalists didn’t hold back from acknowledging the significance of the historical moment.
“This is nothing less than breathtaking,” said Richard Engel, reporting from Bengazi, Libya. “This ends a chapter--the global war on terrorism that has defined a generation, which has defined the US military mission in Afghanistan and Iraq. So many people, so many soldiers have been waiting for this moment.”
And news organizations that broke the momentous news first over Twitter, like the New York Times in a tweet by reporter Jeff Zeleny, quickly shifted to an online piece while re-imagining a print edition for posterity. The Times had to rip up Monday’s front page to accommodate a six-column headline that did the huge story justice.
But hours before the Times or other newspapers hit the streets Monday, the news filtered out over a variety of media platforms. On Facebook, users described where they first heard the bin Laden news, citing Twitter, major broadcast and cable networks or via their iPhones.
NBC anchor Brian Williams, speaking over a live shot of a euphoric, spontaneous gathering in front of the White House, noted that “social media and everyone’s electronic device broke the word, at about the same time, across this country.”
“You could, if you were on the streets of an American city or town, hear the word spread from person to person,” he continued. “They got bin Laden.”
