Those of you who don't live in the Boston area may have a hard time appreciating the enormity of this story to the locals, so let me attempt to put it in perspective: Think O.J.
On the other hand, there's less need to explain the fact that the FBI announced its arrest of fugitive gangster Whitey Bulger via Twitter: That's just the way big news happens these days.
Posted 8 hours ago, the message reads: "FBI Agents in Santa Monica, CA have captured Boston Fugitive James J. 'Whitey' Bulger and his girlfriend Catherine Greig. boston.fbi.gov"
As I've noted previously, it is this type of breaking news story that best highlights the immediacy and breadth of coverage available to anyone who uses Twitter (depth is an entirely different matter, obviously.) It has become a must-see channel for me in such instances, whether the story is one I am covering or not.
If you are interested in the Bulger arrest, here's a Boston Globe writer's Twitter stream featuring on-the-scene accounts, pictures and video from the guy's brother in Santa Monica, Calif., where Bulger was arrested. Both the reporter and his brother grew up in South Boston, Bulger's former stomping grounds.
It's the kind of thing you won't see on the TV news.
And here's my favorite wise-guy tweet about wise guy's arrest, from @hiddenboston: "Whitey Bulger's last words before being arrested: 'I KNEW I shouldn't have signed up for that Foursquare account.' "
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