Well, like it or not, Twitter has become a major hub that officials use to broadcast information rapidly, and where journalists go to get the most up-to-date in

Well, like it or not, Twitter has become a major hub that officials use to broadcast information rapidly, and where journalists go to get the most up-to-date information. And yes, of course govt's provide also their real-time feeds, but they also often publish on Twitter. It is just an unplanned result of the utility of the platform for that purpose, due to network effects; i.e., it could have happened on any platform, but Twitter happened to benefit from the network effects of being in the right time & place, a sufficient mass of journalists were there, officials needing to distribute info found it useful, critical mass was passed, and it became the place to go. The fact is that this IS NOW WHAT IT IS, whether or not you think it suits your taste. I have found that judiciously using it, making lists of reliable sources, that it is extremely informative, and allows direct unfiltered access to leaders in almost every field. While some sources are definitely in the [early alert but need to be confirmed] category, many others are in the [deeper analysis after confirmation] category, we just need to know how to tell them apart, which is the literal job of a journalist, to both get the early info and the confirmations (or failure to confirm). So, whether or not you like it or approve of it, Twitter IS a key part of today's information ecosystem — one of the town's important wells. The problem being alerted here is the threat that this key well is at risk of being poisoned. Just because you don't like that well anyway, doesn't mean it is not an issue.