Commentary

How Did You Hear?

UsamaBinLaden-FBI-Profile

Not since the suicide of Adolf Hitler on April 30, 1945 have so many people been so happy over the death of a single man. The killing of Osama bin Laden -- almost ten years after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 -- is one of those events for which people will long remember where and when they heard the news. I heard the news from a Facebook update via a mobile device, or rather my friend's mobile device. We were immersed in a long movie -- the Godfather, fittingly, just after Michael Corleone exacts revenge against the man who tried to kill his father -- when he checked his smartphone and saw an update from a friend.

Actually the update was rather opaque -- "Congrats to US Special Ops troops and all our military service men and women" -- leading us to think it was somehow related to Libya at first. Only a quick visit to CNN.com, also via mobile device, clarified the meaning of the Facebook post. Still, I have to give social media the credit for breaking the news initially; considering how engrossing Coppola's classic is, we were unlikely to hear for another few hours, but for the mobile Facebook check-in.  

I'm curious to hear how readers found out; in fact I'd like to conduct an impromptu poll. Did you get the initial news from broadcast TV news, radio news, social media, personal word-of-mouth, or print? And once you got the initial report, where did you go for more extensive reporting (e.g., exact circumstances surrounding the operation)? Did you watch Obama's speech live on TV? Live via streaming online video? Or did you miss it and watch it later (or not at all)? And, how much of the information was delivered via mobile device?

22 comments about "How Did You Hear?".
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  1. Joan O'neill from Greenlight Marketing, May 2, 2011 at 1:26 p.m.

    Saw comments from friends on FB first (via iPhone). Went to computer to get full story via CNN.com. Streaming video did not come up quick enough (due to delay of speech?) so my husband and I then turned on the TV.

  2. Kathy Keating, May 2, 2011 at 1:29 p.m.

    I received the initial news via a CNN app alert on my iPad which was sitting next to me while I was watching Amazing Race on my DVR which was about 15 minutes after the networks went to live coverage. We switched over to live TV, re-wound and watched the coverage live.

    The coverage that was delivered via my mobile device was spotting and very disjoint. I was receiving push alerts via several media outlets, but then when visiting those media outlets on my mobile device there was no full length article about it. The only way we could get the full story was to switch to live TV. This shows the "holes" in how pure mobile-media is handled.

  3. Kathleen Bauer from Weight Watchers, May 2, 2011 at 1:37 p.m.

    My fiance read on Facebook via iPhone also

  4. Roy Fuchs from MFN, May 2, 2011 at 1:39 p.m.

    I heard it on a phone call from my daughter, then followed on Twitter and cable TV.

  5. Jody Byrne from Trends & Sources International, May 2, 2011 at 1:40 p.m.

    Television, had just finished watching The Borgias and checked CNN for basic news. Then stuck with ABC for the balance of the evening. Looked for amplified details on my iPad but ABC beat everyone in terms of getting guest commentators from a broad field.

    By the way, where was Giuliani?

  6. Alex Luken from Humana, May 2, 2011 at 1:59 p.m.

    My husband subscribes to the NYT app and was on his iPad. He woke me up to tell me to turn on the television. I flipped back and forth between MSNBC and Al Jazeera. Kudos to the Secretary of State, the military, Special Ops and the Pakistani government for a neatly worked effort.

  7. Elizabeth Danforth from Danforth Design & Development, May 2, 2011 at 2 p.m.

    I was playing World of Warcraft and Trade Chat exploded with the news the moment it was first announced. I tabbed out to Twitter to pick up links, looking to verify and find out details -- was surprised to find the initial leak of information was only a few minutes old. I left the White House feed open as I continued to play (because endless guesswork and speculation and talking heads was pointless), and tabbed out again to watch the official announcement when Obama came out to speak.

  8. Kacey King from Total Quality Logistics, May 2, 2011 at 2:01 p.m.

    I heard it on TV news this morning as I was drinking my coffee. I then listened to NPR in the car on my commute to work for all the details, of which they did an excellent job communicating.

  9. Cathleen Tyson from Best Publications, May 2, 2011 at 2:37 p.m.

    I was watching Celebrity Apprentice while playing Wahoo with my kids. Saw the message on NBC that the President was going to have a Important Live Announcement. Could have checked the computer for updates on CNN, Facebook or Twitter, but chose to continue the game and see what the President had to say.

  10. Jim Petillo from Connective DX, May 2, 2011 at 2:37 p.m.

    I initially heard about it last night (5/1) while on Tumblr, through numerous screencaps of the Fox News "Obama Bin Laden killed" blunder.

    I then flipped on the TV to CNN for more extensive reporting, and watched the president's speech.

    I texted a friend that I knew was out.

  11. Shannon Greevy from BBDO SF, May 2, 2011 at 2:48 p.m.

    I was on a long drive from Anaheim to San Francisco around 7:30 pm and checked out what was happening with my friends on Facebook (from the passenger seat, of course). I broke the news to everyone in the car, and we scanned all the AM radio stations until we found one that was covering the story. We listened to CBS for the next hour or so through the end of Obama's address.
    All of us being originally from NJ, and very close to NYC, we started sharing stories about 9/11, discussing the immediate reactions to bin Laden's death, social media (really) and how we thought the president did with his announcement. Truly a moment.

  12. Ilene Lubell from Lubell Marketing Solutions, May 2, 2011 at 3:43 p.m.

    I heard about it on CNN. Actually, I heard about the President's speech on CNN. And they said they were told it was a national security issue but did not know what it was and did not want to make any assumptions before the president spoke. So then we went to FOX and of course, they announced it immediately and said that it took place a week ago the President held off telling the American people. A typical FOX story. So, we watched the speech on CNN and then followed up before and after online. In fact Wikipedia has him listed as someone who just died before the President spoke. It is sad that we are all so happy that an individual has been killed. But now as Americans we all have closure and in a weird way, I think things in our country will re

  13. Ilene Lubell from Lubell Marketing Solutions, May 2, 2011 at 3:44 p.m.

    I heard about it on CNN. Actually, I heard about the President's speech on CNN. And they said they were told it was a national security issue but did not know what it was and did not want to make any assumptions before the president spoke. So then we went to FOX and of course, they announced it immediately and said that it took place a week ago the President held off telling the American people. A typical FOX story. So, we watched the speech on CNN and then followed up before and after online. In fact Wikipedia has him listed as someone who just died before the President spoke. It is sad that we are all so happy that an individual has been killed. But now as Americans we all have closure and in a weird way, I think things in our country will really start to get better.

  14. Wendy Jameson from ColnaTec, May 2, 2011 at 3:46 p.m.

    I was watching "Casino Royale" with my husband and 20yo son when my son got a news alert on his iPhone. We immediately switched over to CNN and watched the story unfold. That was about 20-30 minutes before Obama gave his speech, and only a handful of people were gathered outside the White House. I flipped open my MacBook and started following Twitter and FB, commenting as I watched CNN. Turns out the story of Bin Laden's demise was straight out of a Bond flick...how fitting.

  15. John Jainschigg from World2Worlds, Inc., May 2, 2011 at 4:19 p.m.

    I found out in Warcraft: Cataclysm. I'd just gotten out of a battleground (Twin Towers) in which we'd pounded the Horde to a 3-0 win, and was sitting astride my Crimson Gryphon on a rooftop in StormWind when the news came over the global Trade channel.

    Some CNN guy said it could be the beginning of the end of the War on Terror. Personally, I think they're gonna sell us on an upgrade pack and a new villain, so we all keep p(l)aying. (grin)

  16. Yuko Ichihara from NYU, May 2, 2011 at 5:46 p.m.

    I was watching (well, listening to, precisely) Fox5News that started at 10pm. I turned on my TV 10 min. after 10pm; the anchor was saying that very imporatant statement from President Obama would be presented; the news show then added speculation - what it is about and part of info, Osama Bin Laiden died. I think people today can learn the news much faster than 10 or more years ago, as fast as real time, depdnding on if they are online (mobile phone or netbook/laptop or desktop computer) or on a broadcasting medium - radio or TV when the news is break out. Some may on both. I am very interested in how your survey results will turn out.

  17. Michael Brigham from socal, May 2, 2011 at 6:20 p.m.

    Was watching "All the President's Men" with my wife. Casually checked twitter and saw a couple of comment's about Bin Laden being killed. Immediately turned off the movie and watched CNN for the next two hours....all the while both my wife and I followed the reactions on Twitter & Facebook.

  18. Donna DeClemente from DDC Marketing Group, May 2, 2011 at 9:34 p.m.

    I was watching the end of Brothers & Sisters on ABC when they broke into the program about 10 minutes before 11pm with a special report. I thought it may be about Libya & was surprised by the announcement that Usama Bin Laden was killed & we were waiting on the President to make an announcement. I then grabbed my phone and went on to Twitter to see others tweeting about it and then posted my own tweet and then jumped to Facebook.

    I stayed awake till I got to hear President Obama confirm. My daughter who is in college called right before the President came on to make sure we heard the news. It is interesting to see that the youth is so engaged about this. Ten years ago my daughter was only nine years old, now a 19 year old college student.

  19. Merri Grace McLeroy from Integrated Marketing Strategies LLC, May 3, 2011 at 9:52 a.m.

    Like you, I received a facebook post on my iPhone. Wow. Times have changed.

  20. Chris Straka from SLP TechTools, May 3, 2011 at 6:57 p.m.

    Google News after a quiet night sleeping in front of TV

  21. Jerry Foster from Energraphics, May 4, 2011 at 3:59 a.m.

    It was a holiday afternoon. I was at a bus stop on the way to do extra work at the office when I got a text message from a foreign woman congratulating me on the death of "the terrorists". I had to call her to get a voice explanation. 20 minutes later I was using Twitter search to get the latest. My parents notified me by email about 12 hours later.

  22. Thomas Siebert from BENEVOLENT PROPAGANDA, May 4, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.

    Old school. I was driving back from Ramona to San Diego after dropping my kids off at their mom’s after a great, sunny weekend. The sun was starting to set, and I clicked on sports radio to catch the Phillies-Mets game. Just as I’d done so, about 7:40 PST, the sportscaster calling the game was mid-sentence, finishing up “….and the president will be addressing the nation later this evening.” Because it seemed so out of context in the middle of a ballgame, I thought he was talking about Bud Selig, MLB’s head honcho. Didn’t register at all, and the broadcasters went on with the game. When I got home, the GF was working on her computer and I flicked on the game. Scrolling across the bottom of the ESPN screen was the news on OBL allegedly getting whacked. For one horrible split half-second – and God forgive me for this – I thought they were talking about our President getting assassinated….honestly, in my consciousness, it must’ve seemed more realistic that some racist nut would kill Obama than we would ever catch Osama. By the time the “Omigod, Oh no!” was out of my mouth, reality trumped perception and segued immediately into “Oh wait….this is AWESOME!”

    Kudos to our gutsy Prez and Special Forces. Nice job, and thanks – they’ll always make more room in hell for the deserving.

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About the Author

Erik Sass is editor of Publishers Daily. You can reach Erik at eriksass@gmail.com.