Last night, CNBC reporter, David Faber, tweeted that Comcast would buy Time Warner Cable.

This tweet was then retweeted over 1,400 times. The official release of this announcement was published today just after 8am. The article was only tweeted out 193 times.

A quote was released from Faber, explaining why he took to Twitter to make this announcement last night, he stated, “I had no where to go. It was 9:00pm”.

It’s no surprise the news exploded last night across social networks and by today, it really was yesterday’s news.

Social networks have changed the way we receive information and news. Tweets have a short life span and while this tweet had plenty of interaction, most individuals received this news by morning when articles were published.

Multiple sources reported this breaking news, but none have the interaction of Faber’s first tweet.

Often, when breaking news is announced via Twitter, a news article accompanies it. With more reporter specific news releases, reputation and credibility become even more important.

Should news become reporter specific? Does this leave social users following reporters instead of their brand, and how should the brand respond?