Becoming the news: examining obit coverage on journalists lost to the new coronavirus pandemic

Obituaries have long been an integral part of the newshole in newspapers. Scholars have approached this form of journalism from diverse lenses. A thread of related research focuses on the journalistic craft of writing obits. Obituaries coverage, amplified by online outlets, has seen a huge surge during the new coronavirus pandemic. Journalists themselves have become the news, suggesting a self-reflective turn in commemorative journalism. It is not too often that they report on one of their own. How does the art of obit writing on journalists reveal itself in across cultures? What ethical questions in pandemic reporting do such works invite? How do the obits contextualize journalists becoming the news in the pandemic story? This paper textually analyzes 115 article-length obituaries of journalists published in online outlets from diverse countries. Findings have implications for the study of cross-cultural practices in obit reporting.