When news of yesterday’s US Airways crash broke…how did you hear about it? Was it a “Breaking News” email from a news conglomerate? Was it a text message from a friend in NYC? Or was it on Twitter?  Eric Zeman from InformationWeek noticed that many people were, in fact, getting this breaking news from Twitter.  

Almost immediately, he posted the article – “Twitter Spreads News of U.S. Airways Crash In An Instant.”  In the article, he says, “Today was yet another indicator that Twitter is the way we’re going to consume breaking news in the future. I learned about the US Airways Hudson River plane crash before it was on CNN.com, NYTimes.com and FOXnews.com.”

I did a quick search for “US Airways” on Twitter Search, and the search tool couldn’t even keep up with the results. As you will see in this screen shot, I think I saw the press release from the U.S. Airways website before it even hit the wire.

So what does this mean for media and public relations as we know it?  In 2009, I expect we will see more and more breaking news via Twitter, as “citizen journalists” are Tweeting things the moment they happen.  That means that we need to account for  the immediacy and interactivity of Twitter and social media as part of how we communicate. That does not mean that mainstream media does not have a role; more people saw the incredible pictures shared on Twitter via print and TV (they were linking there) than on Twitter.  But it does mean that the first pictures we see are not going to be from when the news cameras arrive at the scene.

Of course, breaking news is not the main reason to follow Twitter. I know my colleagues and I are on Twitter through the day, joining the conversation, Tweeting our clients announcements and sharing links we find interesting relating to anything and everything. I’m following what is going with Tweeps from DC that I find interesting, editors at BusinessWeek, and even mom bloggers. Everyone brings something to the conversation. And with Twitter, you get to create your own personal newsfeed.

So hop on the Twitter bandwagon. It may be your best source for breaking news in 2009. And you might even participate in some news yourself.

Written by Tory Klaubo Patrick