BREAKING: The ways people hear about big news these days; “into a million pieces,” says source

It’s not often that massive political news breaks on a Sunday afternoon — especially one in steamy late July, the leading edge of the Greater August vacation season. But break news Joe Biden most certainly did with this tweet announcing he would not run for reelection this fall.

pic.twitter.com/RMIRvlSOYw

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024

And as always, that big news reached people in a wide variety of ways. Like from Shams Charania, whose usual big breaks involve NBA trades (“how does this impact LeBron’s legacy“). Social media has encouraged people to think that, if the news is really important, it’ll find them. So how did it find people on Sunday?

I subscribe to an inordinate number of breaking-news emails, so in my inbox at least, the earliest senders in order were: Axios, Gannett, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Dallas Morning News, Vanity Fair, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.), Bloomberg, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The 19th, Vox. (YMMV, of course.)

And Matt Taylor of the Financial Times was tracking push notifications as they came in; congrats to CNBC.

The first 20 minutes of news push notifications from last night’s announcement of Biden stepping out of the race.

I need another dozen phones globally located to properly assess these arrival times, but here’s a rough order of what one user experienced. pic.twitter.com/XPZeg8BZIV

— Matt ‘TK’ Taylor (@MattieTK) July 22, 2024

Here’s an obviously incomplete list of some of the ways that Americans and others around the world heard the news.

A lifeguard on the loudspeaker at a D.C. pool

Live TV playing at the gym

A Twitter account that tracks whether or not Liza Minnelli has yet outlived a particular person or thing:

Liza Minnelli has outlived Joe Biden’s race for re-election. After weeks of pressure from fellow Democrats, he is stepping down as the party’s nominee for President.

— LizaMinnelliOutlives (@LiZaOutlives) July 21, 2024

for those wondering- looks like @LiZaOutlives broke the news a minute before @PopBase and @PopCrave pic.twitter.com/2L1dJoMmJm

— macy (@macyagilliam) July 21, 2024

A friend’s text with a link to The Guardian

Top-of-the-hour headlines on a public radio station

An “old-school message board”

Horny copypasta

A news alert, but I wondered whether it was a pre-write that got pushed accidentally.

— Gabe Bullard (@gbullard) July 22, 2024

Phone call from college-aged son while during housework

A New York Times push alert

A push alert at Whataburger

A text from someone sitting nearby at a Nationals game

This tweet:

‘Parks & Recreation’ star Joe Biden has announced he will no longer be running for President. pic.twitter.com/PZHRdnFsS8

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 21, 2024

The chat in a Twitch stream of a live crossword competition

In a discipleship class at church

In a bar-exam-prep Discord channel

From the happy screams of 100-plus women at a mass outdoor workout

Push alerts while taping a Dungeons & Dragons podcast

BBC push alert during a Dungeons & Dragons game

This tweet:

Joe Biden is retiring so he can focus on his Guilty Gear career. pic.twitter.com/NfNoC2gHyZ

— Ultima @ EVO (@UltimaShadowX) July 21, 2024

From the radio announcers at a Yankees game

From the radio announcers at a Mets game

An American Girl doll-themed Instagram meme account:

From a Try Guy at a farmer’s market

“In a text from my husband…from across the room…because he didn’t want to say it out loud because we were at my conservative dad’s house for a family birthday party.”

A news alert on a patient’s Apple Watch mid-exam

A Discord notification: “It’s Kamencing”

The Twitter account of a Minecraft server

An Alexa notification

An email alert from The New York Times

For the first time ever, Apple News push alert actually broke news to me

This fact-challenged tweet:

BRAKING

Joel Biden has announced that he is impeaching (Latin for “withdrawing”) himself from the Presidential race. So how do the dominoes fall from here?

1. Hunter Biden is next in the line of secession and will assume the presidency

2. As a convicted felon, however,… pic.twitter.com/Ju9ZOsj3x8

— Three Year Letterman (@3YearLetterman) July 21, 2024

A push alert in an ice cave

A spouse asking a smart speaker: “hey Google, who’s going to replace Joe Biden?”

This viral TikTok:

@tswiftfan420♬ original sound – Molly

“On a queer camping trip on the yuba river, a friend got an update text from her girlfriend that their pepper plant had new peppers on it…and also Joe Biden pulled out”

Overheard in an hour-long lobster-roll line in Maine

A text: “YOOOOOO”

Watching MSNBC

“From a reality TV Instagram account posting how the current Big Brother candidates won’t know that Biden dropped out of the race til October. “

This meme:

I heard from people messaging me, but @IbbaArmancas found out via meme pic.twitter.com/bcjvzCfHK7

— tom hollandest (@supriyalimaye) July 22, 2024

“FB alert from a fellow journalist while sitting at a dog agility trial waiting to run my corgi”

Overheard at an art gallery

Wall Street Journal push notification while grocery shopping at Publix

Slack

being the most online friend in a group chat today is no easy task. i’m sending tweets, memes, copypastas, keeping everyone entertained. shoutout to my fellow sisters in arms

— limp brittzkit (@Brittymigs) July 21, 2024