Twitter and the incredible shrinking news cycle

[Commentary] In the not-so-distant past, news generally tended to travel in a few well-worn paths. Either it was reported by a newspaper, or it appeared on television at noon or 6 pm, or it was mentioned on a drive-time radio show — and those involved usually had plenty of time to report it and produce it. The arrival of CNN and 24-hour news changed all that, however, and Twitter and Facebook have changed it again: now, the news is just as likely to appear in a tweet, or to be posted as a status update by someone who is directly involved in the event. In a nutshell, this means that the value of a simple “scoop” or breaking news report is declining rapidly — and that might just be a good thing.