News of Editor and Publisher shutting down made the rounds on Twitter in a hurry on Thursday. It escalated up the site’s “trending topics” as it was tweeted and retweeted hundreds of times in just minutes.

In fact, many said they first heard the news through Twitter – including Gina Chen and myself as a matter of fact. It makes sense, as journalists are following journalists, and the news spread quickly from one person to the next.

Some of the conversation went like this, as the news broke and people weighed in with first reactions:

11:11 a.m.:
@mattwaite: Wow. Editor and Publisher, gone: http://bit.ly/6EQZzl

11:15 a.m.:
@stevebuttry: Wow indeed! Best wishes in whatever comes next, @GregMitch & @JoeStrupp. RT @mattwaite Wow. Editor and Publisher, gone: http://bit.ly/6EQZzl

11:18 a.m.:
@jfdulac: RIP Editor & Publisher, which for 100+ yrs has covered the highs and many, many lows of the newspaper biz. Via @romenesko http://is.gd/5i81g

11:19 a.m.:
@scottmladd: Wow, irony. Editor and Publisher, gone: http://bit.ly/6EQZzl

11:23 a.m.:
@elisehelene: I am so stressed out about the double whammy of NYT buyouts and the closure of Editor & Publisher

11:24 a.m.:
@sfwriter: Sign of the times? Editor & Publisher to cease operations. http://is.gd/5i7nP (via @seeger and Romensko.

11:26 a.m.:
@johnmytaylor: Wait, if Editor and Publisher is shutting down, who’s going to write about other newspapers shutting down?

11:39 a.m.:
@Penenberg: Gourmet, Editor & Publisher and Kirkus are now gone, with more to come. It’s not the recession; it’s a paradigm shift.

11:43 a.m.:
@bdomenech: The end is near. RT @michaelscherer: RT @Slate: Nielsen shuts down Kirkus Reviews and Editor & Publisher http://bit.ly/6mxJPI

11:43 a.m.:
@jayrosen_nyu: Editor and Publisher dies. http://jr.ly/phxk

11:47 a.m.:
@RheaBecker: Editor & Publisher, 1 of THE oldest mags in US and a watchdog of the industry, has closed!!!

11:52 a.m.:
@carter_c: Well, this just says it all NEW YORK (AP) — Editor and Publisher, 108-year-old journalism industry publication, is shutting down.

11:54 a.m.:
@RandyNovak_NSA: an appeal… take it online! Nielsen folds Editor & Publisher and Kirkus Reviews: http://www.poynter.org/q/?id=A174719 via @addthis

Many remarked about Twitter being a trending topic, as the news flew across journalism circles through tweets and retweets.

12:00 p.m.:
@kurtsoller: The fact that “Editor & Publisher” is a trending topic reflects the deeply insular relationship between media and twitter, right?

12:01 p.m.:
@damonbleau: Editor and Publisher is now a trending topic. Gosh, there are a lot of media types on Twitter.

12:39 p.m.:
@neversent: “Editor & Publisher” and “Kirkus Reviews” are both trending topics on Twitter, which gives you an idea of who’s on here.

12:44 p.m.:
@nickjungman: So many media types on Twitter that “Editor & Publisher” and “E&P” are trending topics now.

12:47 p.m.:
@jfdulac: Twitterverse demographics: 39% journos? RT @ezraklein: Really surprised that Editor and Publisher is a trending topic on twitter.

12:51 p.m.:
@jtheibault: I’m surprised that both Editor and Publisher and Kirkus Reviews are trending topics. So few “scholarly” topics make it to trending.

12:52 p.m.:
@akerwin: Amazing that Editor & Publisher and E&P are trending topics right now….who knew so many fans?

1:11 p.m.:
@WisReader: The end of #Editor&Publisher is Twitter trending. Hmm. So surprising, and not surprising at the same time (the end, not Twitter-trend).

1:25 p.m.:
@BoraZ: RT @nancyshute @robertniles: ‘Editor & Publisher’ on Trending Topics suggests many un- and under-employed journos killing time on Twitter.

1:38 p.m.:
@MattBors: You mean Editor and Publisher can’t sustain themselves online with traffic from twitter trending topics?

Greg Mitch, editor of Editor and Publisher, sent a few of his own tweets, expressing shock and conveying a sense of hope that E&P could somehow still be saved. He was overwhelmed with Twitter messages — for hours:

11:23 a.m.
@3DJourno: @GregMitch | We are sorry to learn that Editor and Publisher will be shutting down operations. Your team will be missed in this mission.

11:44 a.m.:
@grhansen: @GregMitch E&P (and you) have long had a big impact on my career and knowledge. I know you’ll continue to do well. Thanks

12:53 p.m.:
@nSquib: @GregMitch Sorry to hear about E&P. Quite a sad year for media all around.

1:04 p.m.:
@letwits: @GregMitch No kidding. Huge loss. Will miss E&P, even though I was neither an E nor a P….

1:08 p.m.:
@GottaLaff: @GregMitch I just got on. What?! E&P demise? I am so sorry!! Sincerely.

2:50 p.m.:
@cweiser: @GregMitch I, for one, would pay a subscription fee for a new online only E&P.

4:18 p.m.:
@batpoet: Yes: RT @kbeninato: Thanks for years of quality E&P reporting RT @GregMitch You can keep following me here and at my blog…

5:40 p.m.:
@CraigCheslog: .@GregMitch So sorry to hear the news about Editor & Publisher. I hope a last-minute solution is found for E&P, you, and the staff there.

8:49 p.m.:
@louisbyrd3: @GregMitch I’m sorry to hear about E & P shutting down today, they could have at least waited until after the holidays.

9:22 p.m.:
@mediajunkie: @GregMitch sorry to hear the news. have loved E&P, especially in the past few years

Friday, 5:58 a.m.:
@boizebu: @GregMitch, I am just a foot soldier in the media wars, but without E&P, I am going to feel lost. @mediabistro just does not cut it.

But Editor and Publisher isn’t done yet. On Friday, its piece “When will a Web editor take charge of a major newspaper?” spread quickly on Twitter after this tweet from Greg Mitch.

@GregMitch: If you missed earlier today, major E&P piece: When will a Web editor take charge of major newspaper? http://bit.ly/65J9HX

The fact that so many first reactions were on Twitter and the news spread so quickly among journalism circles that E&P became a trending topic is telling. No longer is a development like this “hot off the presses,” but it’s hot off the Twitter stream. This news, of a journalism staple for more than 100 years, was shared and spread in the newest of ways.

Related news articles and blog posts:

Romenesko: Nielsen folds Editor & Publisher and Kirkus Reviews

Editor and Publisher: ‘Editor & Publisher’ to Cease Publication After 125 Years

Talking Points Memo: Editor & Publisher Folds

MediaBistro GalleyCat: Kirkus Reviews and Editor & Publisher to Close

MediaBistro FishbowlLA: Editor & Publisher Shutters, Hollywood Reporter and Billboard Sold

The Business Insider: ‘Mood Is Terrible’ At Nielsen After 125-Year Old ‘Editor and Publisher’ Killed

The Atlantic: Media Death Watch: Editor and Publisher Axed

MediaPost Publications Mag Bag: Venerable ‘Editor & Publisher’ Shuttered

Editors Weblog: Editor & Publisher shut down after 125 years

Huffington Post: Jason Linkins: End Of An Era As Editor & Publisher Ceases Publication

Will Bunch: While Dying, Editor & Publisher Showed Journalism How To Live

NewsBusters.org: Toward the End, Editor and Publisher Lurched Left

Steve Yelvington: The passing of Editor & Publisher

Steve Outing: Farewell, Editor & Publisher (We all knew this day would come)

Ed Driscoll: Editor & Publisher’s Final Years A Cautionary Tale