twitter is class when it comes to news. You will need to put in a bit of time into good working filter though. But in regards to speed / realtime news using twitter is not a bad choice. as mentioned before you can follow the alt coins and some market experts on twitter.
I would agree with you, Twitter is really good place to get news real quick. Few accounts I follow updates 2-6 times per hour. But I also bookmarked few famous websites, I also follow Reddit. Also I know some peoples, I call them Guru's, those person taught me many thing and gives genuine news, I get confirmation from them generally.