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fail_whale_fan_mail t1_ixynlaa wrote

Reply to comment by Pointing_Monkey in Will we know if Thomas Pynchon dies? by BananaBeach007

What about looking over death registrations makes someone scummy? And I sincerely doubt any reporter wastes their time consistently checking death registrations.

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violetmemphisblue t1_ixzmh8m wrote

I don't think going through death registrations is necessarily scummy (its definitely less scummy, in my opinion, than birth registrations and then making public the details of babies whose parents have worked to keep private). I do think its sort of scummy to press family on making statements or revealing autopsy findings or things like that. The fact of the death might be relevant news but anything beyond that, I think, should remain private. (I understand many don't agree with that,though, and its not likely to happen!)

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ActonofMAM t1_ixzi8kt wrote

Reporters call that "legwork" and it is absolutely someone's job to do so.

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fail_whale_fan_mail t1_ixzmzda wrote

Yeah, maybe to verify after you get a tip or something. Checking the logs consistently would be a huge amount of time and effort for very little reward. And they're not even publicly available in many areas.

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ActonofMAM t1_ixzuh5c wrote

I have a journalism degree, although I haven't worked in the field for many years. You?

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fail_whale_fan_mail t1_ixzxb85 wrote

I worked as a journalist for about five years and left the field early-covid. We'd comb through police reports and court logs, but never death records. Pretty sure recent ones weren't publicly available where I worked and it would have been a wildly poor use of our time to request and read through all the names if they were. We heard about the deaths we wrote about through a variety of sources and would follow-up with relevant officials to verify.

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Pointing_Monkey t1_iy2pyw8 wrote

If the family don't want to publicly reveal the death, what right do the press have to announce it?

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