WordSmith › News of the Century Revealed On Twitter: Osama Gone.
“Pithy PRognostications from a recovering journalist.”
Words of the Day
“The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda. But his death does not mark the end of our effort” – President Obama
U.S. Kills Evil 9/11 Mastermind
Yes! The evil face of global terrorism is dead. In the inky, pre-dawn dark, an elite Navy Seal unit, led by the CIA, descended on a fortified compound in Allalabad – a city 35 miles from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad – and killed Osama bin Laden in a targeted raid that shocked the world.
This is perhaps the biggest news event on terrorism since the death of Adolf Hitler – and the whole world paused as the events of the day unfolded last night.
Yet, unlike that World War II-era news flash, the demise of this next generation Hitler was captured first through a decidedly contemporary news tool. Yes, social media trumped traditional media on the biggest story of the century.
Just after 11:30 ET, President Barack Obama stepped to a podium to make a surprise announcement: U.S. forces have killed bin Laden. By the time Obama spoke, reporters had been buzzing for a little under two hours, ever since an e-mail from the White House saying that Obama would make a statement. Rumors started flying about what that statement would contain, and the unusual timing only added to the frenzy of speculation. So soon enough, every relevant reporter—whether print, TV or any other medium—seemed to be on the story for the ages . But they weren’t the ones who broke it. Twitter scooped everyone!
Even the wire services, which traditionally break news like this, appear to have been scooped by an unlikely figure. The person who will, deservedly, get credit for being the first to confirm the rumors that bin Laden had been killed is Keith Urbahn, the current chief of staff to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He broke the news with a single, simple tweet: “So I’m told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn.”
It was the tweet heard around the globe as the much-anticipated death of the world’s worst terrorist played out.
We are shaped by events such as these that are seared into our hearts and chiseled on our souls. Today is a great dawn that sees the hope of peace revived, the fires of freedom reignited and the resolve of mankind shining brightly like that clear September day nearly a decade ago that united the world to defeat the evil cowardly lurking in the dark shadows of terror.
WordSmith is rejoicing! Let freedom ring!
Golden Mic
Each week, WordSmith will bestow a Golden Mic Award to the person, group or company in the court of public opinion that best exemplifies the tenets of solid PR, marketing and advertising – and those who don’t. Stay tuned … and step-up to the mic!
The WordSmith News Bureau is based at Deane Smith Media Innovations, a full-service PR, marketing and advertising agency. Got PR? Need marketing strategy? Ad consulting? Message Wordsmithing? Creative & online initiatives? Reach the WordSmith at wordsmith@deanesmithmedia.com