U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, An Incalculable Loss

"U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, An Incalculable Loss" was the front page article of the New York Times on Sunday May 24, 2020. Its subheader read "They were not simply names on a list. They were us." It contained one thousand obituaries of individuals from across the United States who had succumbed to COVID-19 in the pandemic.

front page of the New York Times on May 24, 2020

Background

The article was intended to convey the vastness and variety in the tragedies as a result of the pandemic by personalizing the tragedy as readers and staff developed data fatigue from the constant reporting of the pandemic. Assistant graphics editor Simone Landon lead a team of researchers in searching obituaries that listed COVID-19 as the cause of death and extracting names and key personal details.[1]

The list was assembled by researcher Alain Delaquérière through various online sources for obituaries and death notices. A team of editors read them and gleaned phrases that depicted the uniqueness of each life lost.[2] Clinton Cargill, assistant editor on the National desk, co-directed the editing process with Landon. Other key figures include Matt Ruby, deputy editor of Digital News Design; Annie Daniel, a software engineer; and the graphics editors Jonathan Huang, Richard Harris and Lazaro Gamio. Andrew Sondern, an art director, did the print design.[3]

Reception

The image of the front page The Times tweeted the Saturday before publication had 61,000 retweets and more than 116,000 likes within hours.[1] This tweet was later deleted and replaced with an image of the late edition after one obituary was linked to a homicide victim.[4] Many noted that the front page resembled those of newspapers in the late 1800s or early 1900s due to its lack of big headers or photos.[5]

Notable deaths

Among the obituaries there were a number of notable deaths:

References
  1. "'Incalculable loss': New York Times covers front page with 1,000 Covid-19 death notices". the Guardian. May 24, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  2. "New York Times devotes front page to COVID-19 victims as US deaths near 100K". ABC7 Chicago. May 24, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  3. John Grippe (May 23, 2020). "The Project Behind a Front Page Full of Names". New York Times. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  4. Richardson, Valerie (May 24, 2020). "NYT makes correction after listing homicide victim as coronavirus death". The Washington Times. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  5. "New York Times covers front page in names of those killed by coronavirus: 'An incalculable loss'". Patriot-News. 24 May 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
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