Why Some Obituaries Have Dead People’s Bylines; the State’s Varying Plans to Resist Deportations–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Jan. 2, 2025

Indy Digest: Jan. 2, 2025

The death of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29 brought up one of the weird quirks of journalism: Obituaries of well-known subjects will occasionally have bylines from reporters who died well before the subject of the obituary.

The Washington Post’s Laura Wagner wrote about this little bit of weirdness earlier this week: She talked to Larry Eichel, who wrote the first draft of Carter’s obit for the Philadelphia Inquirer about 35 years ago. Eichel left the paper in 2008 and now works as an adviser at a research group—meaning that when Carter died, Eichel got a front-page byline 16 years after he left the Inquirer. Wagner then goes on to say:

Carter’s considerable longevity meant that some of his obit writers have by now left not only journalism but also their mortal coils.

Former New York Times national reporter Roy Reed, who shares a byline on the newspaper’s Carter obituary, died in 2017. The Post’s Edward Walsh, who worked as the paper’s White House correspondent during the Carter administration and has a byline on The Post’s Carter obit, died in 2014. And The Guardian’s Carter obituary was written by Harold Jackson, one of the paper’s Washington correspondents during the Carter years, who died in 2021.

While the practice of writing obituaries for people while they’re still very much alive may seem a bit morbid, it makes sense when you stop and think about it. First, it means a news outlet can quickly publish a well-written piece—that’s been edited and fact-checked—when a major figure passes away. Second: It means the obits are written by reporters who know the subject best, at a time when recollections are fresh. Who could possibly do a better job of chronicling Carter’s presidency for his obituary than reporters who actually covered his time in office?

Wagner talked to Robert White, the obituary editor for The Guardian:

White said his team starts thinking about obits for notable figures as soon as they turn 70, and he said the paper has some 2,000 obituaries on file.

“The website is just as keen as print to have good obits go up very quickly,” White said. “They need to add value to the news accounts, and, of course, these days every single detail can be challenged through Googling.”

Back in 2017, the New York Times published a piece headlined “An Obituary Written From Beyond the Grave? Not Quite.” It said: “The Times has about 1,900 advances on hand; roughly a dozen of them were written by reporters who have since died. (On average, two or three obituaries written in advance are published in a given week, and the stock is replenished at about the same rate. The rest of the obituaries are written on deadline, as breaking news items.)”

Jimmy Carter created a perfect storm, of sorts, for these obits (not quite) written from beyond the grave, since his presidency ended 44 years ago; he lived to be 100 years old; and he entered hospice almost two years ago, back in February 2023.

Of course, given the deterioration of newspapers and other news media in recent years, this practice of “preparedness” is becoming less and less common—which means the quality of obituaries will inevitably decline as well.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Activists are complaining that a draft plan by Gov. Gavin Newsom does not do enough to protect immigrants from deportation by the Trump 2.0 administration. The Los Angeles Times reports: “Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has drafted a conceptual plan to help undocumented immigrants under threat of deportation after President-elect Donald Trump takes office. But some advocates worry the proposal doesn’t do enough to protect those who are detained amid immigration proceedings. … Advocacy organizations prefer a plan put forth by the state Senate, which includes funding for lawyers to represent detained immigrants as they go through immigration proceedings. Detention is anticipated to increase as Trump carries out mass deportation plans, and federal officials are eyeing a new facility in California. ‘This document is an internal and deliberative draft document meant for internal discussions as part of a number of possible considerations given the incoming federal administration’s public remarks,’ said Scott Murray, deputy public affairs director at the California Department of Social Services. ‘It is not a final proposal.’”

• A very sensitive Treasury Department database has been hacked by the Chinese government. The Washington Post explains: “Chinese government hackers breached a highly sensitive office in the Treasury Department that administers economic sanctions against countries and groups of individuals—one of the most potent tools possessed by the United States to achieve national security aims, according to U.S. officials. The targeting of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as well as the Office of the Treasury Secretary—developments not previously reported—reflects Beijing’s determination to acquire intelligence on its most significant rival in the global competition for power and influence, said the officials, who like others interviewed for this report spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. A top area of interest for the Chinese government, current and former officials said, would be Chinese entities that the U.S. government may be considering designating for financial sanctions. The hack also compromised the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research, according to the officials.”

• Are you ready for some good news? Well, here it is: A new Medicare drug-spending cap is now in effect. CBS News says: “Starting Jan. 1, 2025, millions of Americans who get their prescription drugs through Medicare could get a major financial break when a $2,000 out-of-pocket spending cap on medications goes into effect. The yearly price cap has been in the works since President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in 2022, with that legislation including provisions tackling drug costs for seniors as well as other Americans. ‘As a result, 19 million people are expected to save an average of $400 each,’ Biden said Tuesday in a statement. ‘My Inflation Reduction Act has changed Medicare for the better, and as a result Americans will have more money back in their pockets in the years to come.’ … In the first year of the cap, about 3.2 million Medicare recipients are likely to see lower costs due to the new rule, particularly seniors who take multiple medications or have high-cost prescriptions, according to an analysis from AARP. Before the law, there was no out-of-pocket cap for Medicare’s Part D, the section that covers prescription drugs, which left seniors at risk of ‘significant financial burdens,’ the AARP noted.”

• In way-less-good news, this is your seasonal reminder that there are a lot of respiratory illnesses currently going around. ABC News reports: “Respiratory illness activity—a measure of how often conditions like the common cold, flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus are diagnosed—is currently ‘high’ in the United States, according to an update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, New Hampshire is listed as having ‘very high’ respiratory virus activity, and 11 states—Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin—are listed as having ‘high’ activity, CDC data shows. Particularly, COVID-19, seasonal flu and RSV activity are increasing across the country with a rising number of people visiting emergency departments and the number of tests coming back positive for one of the three conditions, the CDC said.” California, by the way, is in the “moderate” category.

• Another illness is surging: norovirus. CNN says: “A common stomach bug is surging, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the week of December 5, there were 91 outbreaks of norovirus reported, up from 69 the previous week. In the same period in recent years, there generally were 65 or less outbreaks per week. (It might not seem like a lot, but many more cases probably go unreported.) With cases on the rise, more people may want to know how norovirus is spread, what symptoms to expect and how long they can expect to be sick. What should they do if they think they may have it? At what point should they go to the doctor? What food safety tips can reduce the risk of spreading norovirus? And what else can be done to prevent the spread of it and other foodborne illnesses?” Dr. Leana Wen then answers some of these questions, and reveals that: “According to the CDC, (norovirus) is responsible for 19 million to 21 million illnesses every year. It results in over 2.2 million outpatient medical visits, 465,000 emergency department visits and 109,000 hospitalizations.”

• And finally … back to some good news: More homeowners will be able to get good insurance in California. But there’s bad news, too: It’s gonna be pricey. The Washington Post reports: “A regulation announced this week by the California Department of Insurance requires insurers to increase the writing of comprehensive policies in disaster-prone areas by 5 percent every two years up to a certain threshold. Currently, there is no requirement that insurers operate in high-risk areas at all, and some of the largest home insurers have cut their natural disaster coverage or hiked rates as climate risk grows. But in an effort to keep those firms from leaving California altogether, regulators included a concession that the industry has sought for years: the ability to include reinsurance costs in the rates that homeowners pay. … (California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo) Lara described the rule, which was announced Monday, as part of an ambitious plan for insurance reform. Lara’s broader plan allows carriers to charge residents for the rising costs of climate change, incorporating forward-looking projections rather than just historical data, in exchange for an expansion of coverage. The rule takes effect in 30 days pending an administrative review. Under the new rules, insurers would eventually write comprehensive home insurance policies in high-risk areas up to a level that is at least 85 percent of their statewide market share.”

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