Technology sure has evolved from the old days, I mean soon as they declared PAN I got an instant update on my iPhone from the app FlightRadar 24. You can pretty much watch these emergencies unfold live which is why the media are so quick on this stuff now.
I have a mate who works for Nine News and they got the squawk code straight away and followed its track to confirm its legitimacy then ran the story on the afternoon news, and the plane had not even landed yet!