The largest newspaper publisher in the United States has ordered “thousands” of iPad 2s and iPhone 4S, according to an internal memo from Gannett newspaper division president Bob Dickey.

The independent Gannett Blog posted the memo Wednesday evening (from an iPhone no less). Writes Dickey:

In every local market, we have the most and the best journalists. These new tools will help our journalists meet the demands of the new news cycle, one that requires agility in real-time reporting, social media and greater emphasis on video storytelling, further increasing our competitive advantage.

Dickey also waxed poetic about the potential the iPhones and iPads have for journalists, saying the new devices will “enable them to do new things we can’t even imagine yet.” A note to Mr. Dickey: Give TiPb — heck, any of the Mobile Nations sites — a read. We’ll show ya real quick what can (and has) been done for years.

The phones and tablets will reach newsrooms in January.

Source: Gannett Blog

Silicone Valley Insider:

Janis Krums from Sarasota, Florida posts the first photo of U.S. Airways flight 1549 on Twitter from his iPhone.

We’ve discussed before how, quality not withstanding, the iPhone is Flickr’s most popular camera. We’ve also seen the reach and immediacy of Twitter report and engage with news around the world faster and from more perspectives than traditional corporate news machines have ever been able to do. What happens when these new media devices and networks meet? Maybe what was discussed in Leo Laporte’s Macworld 2009 feature presentation.

Paradigms shift. It happened with telegraph, with radio, with television, with satellite… is it happening again with the iPhone and Twitter?