About half an hour before President Obama’s announcement that Osama bin Laden had been killed by special forces, the news was spreading like fire across the Twittersphere. So who was the first person to leak the word? According to the NYT, it was Keith Urbahn (not the C&W singer married to Nicole Kidman), former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s chief of staff. This was his Tweet.

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Mr. Urbahn quickly added, “Don’t know if it’s true, but let’s pray it is.” He was credited by many on the Web with breaking the news, though he did not have first-hand confirmation.

More interesting notes on how the news spread, here.

Bang bang, choo-choo train, let me see you shake that thang. Wm. Steven Humphrey is the editor-in-chief of the Portland Mercury and has held the job since 2000. (So don’t get any funny ideas.)

4 replies on “Who First Leaked the News of bin Laden’s Death?”

  2. I wish the speech had been given at the time that was first announced, watching the CNN anchors hyperventilate for an hour wasn’t pretty.

    Then seeing the news leak all over the place (thanks a LOT, Mr. Loose Lips Urbanh!) really killed the suspense (though at least it calmed my fears that Obama would announce that some terrible calamity was upon us, such as a rift in the space-time continuum, or a sequel to “The Dukes of Hazzard.”)

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