Journalism and Twitter

This is pretty darned nifty. John Dickerson of Slate, who’s in Iowa covering Cirque du Caucus, twittered a note about Huckabee at 2:26: “Just attended strangest Huckabee press conference.” Within a half hour, Slate had his story: “Can a former Baptist preacher throw a Hail Mary? Mike Huckabee, who soared to the top of the polls in Iowa only to see his lead disappear under an advertising assault from Mitt Romney, has just finished a very strange press conference. In front of perhaps the largest press crowd perhaps in Iowa history (the event was held in the hotel where the press is staying, so reporters came with bed head), Huckabee has said that he isn’t going to run the attack ads he spent yesterday making. Minutes before the press conference—where he was to unveil and explain the new ads—he’d decided not to go negative, calling the stations where the spots were planning to air and killing them. … Reporters saw the spectacle as a transparent charade to get them to run Huckabee’s ad for him while allowing him to maintain the high road. “ Update: Predictably, hook, line and sinker.