NYT uses Twitter as a source?

We are the generation of experimental media. With Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites replacing e-mail and definitely phone calls.

So I don't know why I was surprised to see my favorite journalist quote someone's tweet.

If you aren't familiar with David Carr, or @Carr2n, he writes a column for the Monday Business section of the New York Times that focuses on media issues including print, digital, film, radio and television.

His columns, and his biography, are incredibly though-provoking.

Monday I read his column about the demise of late night talk shows and saw:

“Gawker tv’s most essential service: letting me keep up with the late night wars even tho i don’t have a tv,” said @mattbuchanan on Twitter.

I'm not sure if I think this is a creative use of media or an unreliable source. Who is @mattbuchanan? Did Carr have permission to use this quote? Why not use his real name?

But I must say, kudos to Carr for being innovative. And thanks for adding the "on Twitter" qualifying statement. Perhaps I'll give it a try in one of my stories.