News of Bin Laden’s death broke on Twitter
As President Obama wrote his speech on Sunday, a former Rumsfeld staffer tweeted: “So I’m told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn.”
This change was highlighted on Sunday night when news of the death of Osama Bin Laden—the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks—broke via Twitter.
Reporters first learned that the White House planned to make a major announcement at 9:45 Eastern Time, when White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer emailed them the following announcement: “POTUS to address the nation tonight at 10:30 PM Eastern Time.”
He tweeted the same message.
According to NBC News anchor Brian Williams, reporters received a three-word email on Sunday night, saying: “Get to work.”
Speculation about the reason for the address circulated quickly across Twitter as #ObamaGuesses became a popular hashtag on Twitter.
While President Obama was preparing his remarks, a tweet at 10:25 ET confirmed the news. The New York Times reports:
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