Classifying Twitter

I mean to expand on this later. But I was wondering how to 'label' Twitter?

I was hearing the TWiT podcast (http://twit.tv/twit)

which is an excellent podcast by the way and as is customary, there's a social media update from Leo Laporte.

Here's the first update. Lance Armstrong, avid twitterer, refused to speak to the press and instead updated his Twitter and initmated fans about a broken arm. Is this bypassing of conventional media? Is Twitter the ultimate ether, where anyone with a radio station can broadcast news? And your twitter account is exactly a mechanism to do that?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hqaYvaKXPG6ygYt1V_VSjpj5xz1w

Here's the second story, about corporate use of Twitter.

http://mashable.com/2009/05/21/twares/

An airline bypassing all conventional media for advertising vis-a-vis : radio, tv, print media, the traditional internet web ad's and going straight to the users.