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 May 24, 2020; the Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend. 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 died from COVID-19 during the pandemic, as the U.S. death toll reached 100,000.
Background
[edit]The article was intended to convey the vastness and variety of the tragedies resulting from the pandemic by personalizing them, countering data fatigue from constant reporting on 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
[edit]An image of the front page was tweeted by the Times the Saturday before publication; it 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 large headers or photos.[5]
A number of publications again highlighted those that matched their target demographic: KNXV-TV the eight from Arizona,[6] Nola.com the 20 from Louisiana,[7] Boston.com the 80 from Massachusetts,[8] KOCO-TV the three Oklahomans,[9] Philippine Daily Inquirer the two Filipinos,[10] The National Herald the twelve Greek-Americans.[11]
Princeton University Library made it part of its Graphic Arts Collection.[12]
Its publication was followed by the first week of the George Floyd protests. This inspired the art director Adrianne Benzion and freelance copywriter Jessica McEwan duplicated the cover with 350 names of Black individuals who died following an interaction with the police since 2000. Instead of a short eulogy the status of the victims’ case is stated, a large share of which reads “pending investigation.”[13]
The cover design was ranked 19th in Ad Age's "30 Best Creative Brand Moves of 2020".[14]
Legacy
[edit]As the death toll continued the mount, the status of 100,000 deaths as being incalculable was referenced by journalists in order to express how hard a multitude of that figure was to put into frame[15][16] or how callous later headlines by the Times were in comparison.[17]
Notable deaths
[edit]Among the obituaries there were a number of notable deaths:
- Bennie G. Adkins
- Reggie Bagala
- Beryl Bernay
- Robert Barnes
- Mark Blum
- Lorena Borjas
- Patricia Bosworth
- Peter J. Brancazio
- Carole Brookins
- Floyd Cardoz
- Stanley Chera
- Romi Cohn
- John Horton Conway
- Cristina
- Steve Dalkowski
- Noach Dear
- Joe Diffie
- David Driskell
- April Dunn
- Joseph Feingold
- Margit Feldman
- Richard Fenno
- Lila Fenwick
- Alan Finder
- Philip Foglia
- Robert H. Garff
- William H. Gerdts
- Annie Glenn
- Gerald O. Glenn
- Georgianna Glose
- Jerzy Główczewski
- James T. Goodrich
- Henry Graff
- Henry Grimes
- Wynn Handman
- Samuel Hargress II
- Rhoda Hatch
- William B. Helmreich
- Roy Horn
- Motoko Fujishiro Huthwaite
- Milena Jelinek
- Donald Kennedy
- Ilona Murai Kerman
- Lee Konitz
- Madeline Kripke
- Vincent Lionti
- Mike Longo
- Iris Love
- Sterling Maddox
- James Mahoney
- Ellis Marsalis Jr.
- Ralph McGehee
- Michael McKinnell
- Terrence McNally
- Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejía
- Alan Merrill
- Fernando Miteff
- Richard Passman
- Yaakov Perlow
- Dennis G. Peters
- John Pfahl
- Nita Pippins
- Bucky Pizzarelli
- John Prine
- Walter Robb
- Freddy Rodriguez
- Joel Rogosin
- Mary Roman
- Wallace Roney
- Arlene Saunders
- Adam Schlesinger
- Gerald Slater
- Troy Sneed
- Michael Sorkin
- Ann Sullivan
- Fred the Godson
- Ella King Russell Torrey
- Emma Weigley
- Yu Lihua
There were also several that had a significant link to a notable person or institution:
- Peter Bainum, doctoral advisor to aerospace engineer Aprille Ericsson-Jackson[18]
- Bob Barnum, descendant of P. T. Barnum[19]
- Stephen J. Chamberlin Jr., son of WWII general Stephen J. Chamberlin Sr.[20]
- Robert F. Brady Jr., brother of senator Michael Brady[21]
- Julie Butler, mother of writer Zora Howard[22]
- Dante Dennis Flagello, son of opera singer Ezio Flagello[23]
- Theresa Elloie, mother-in-law to rapper Mia X[24]
- Jimmy Glenn, boxing coach of Floyd Patterson, Michael Spinks, Jameel McCline, Aaron Davis and Bobby Cassidy[25]
- Norman Gulamerian, co-founder of Utrecht Art Supplies[26]
- Bobby Hebert Sr., father of American football player Bobby Hebert Jr.[27]
- Donald Reed Herring, brother of senator Elizabeth Warren[28]
- Estelle Kestenbaum, former secretary of judge Edwin Stern[29]
- Carole and Barry Kaye, benefactors of the Florida Atlantic University College of Business[30]
- Peter Laker, father of journalist Barbara Laker[31]
- Artemis Nazarian, benefactor of the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School[32]
- Sheena Miles, mother of politician Tom Miles[33]
- Marguerite Peyser, widow of politician Peter A. Peyser[34]
- Lloyd Cornelius Porter, brother of artist Gregory Porter[35]
- Robert C. Samuels, son of writer Charles Samuels[36]
- Bernard David Seckler, doctoral student of mathematician Joseph Keller[37][38]
- Ruth E. Shinn, sister of theologian Roger L. Shinn[39]
- Jaimala Singh, descendant of the poet Vir Singh[40]
- Bettie London Traxler, mother of jurist William Byrd Traxler Jr.[41]
- John C. West Jr., son of former South Carolina governor John C. West Sr.[42]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "'Incalculable loss': New York Times covers front page with 1,000 Covid-19 death notices". The Guardian. May 24, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ^ "New York Times devotes front page to COVID-19 victims as US deaths near 100K". ABC7 Chicago. May 24, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ^ John Grippe (May 23, 2020). "The Project Behind a Front Page Full of Names". The New York Times. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ^ "CR man mistakenly listed in New York Times' front-page COVID-19 obituaries". KGAN. May 24, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
- ^ "New York Times covers front page in names of those killed by coronavirus: 'An incalculable loss'". The Patriot-News. May 24, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ^ Waltz, Adam (May 26, 2020). "Valley family, New York Times honors father who died from COVID-19". KNXV. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
- ^ "These 20 Louisiana names are of the 1,000 coronavirus victims printed in Sunday's New York Times". NOLA.com. May 24, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
- ^ Dwyer, Dialynn (May 29, 2020). "More than 80 Mass. residents were included in the New York Times' tribute to coronavirus victims. Here's who they were". Boston.com. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
- ^ "3 Oklahomans among COVID-19 victims listed on front page of New York Times". KOCO. May 25, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
- ^ Bergonia, Tony S. (May 25, 2020). "2 Filipinos on historic NY Times' page one memorial for COVID-19 fatalities". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
- ^ Κήρυξ, Εθνικός (May 24, 2020). "Twelve Greek-Americans Among the 1,000 COVID-19 Dead, Whose Names Were Published on New York Times Front Page". The National Herald. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
- ^ Mellby, Julie (May 25, 2020). "The New York Times, May 24, 2020". Graphic Arts Collection. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
- ^ Wilson, Mark (June 11, 2020). "'The New York Times' stunned readers with its coronavirus front page. What if it did the same for Black deaths?". Fast Company. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
- ^ "The 30 best creative brand moves of 2020". Ad Age. January 4, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
- ^ Mack, David (December 21, 2021). "800,000 Americans Have Now Died From COVID. It Didn't Have To Be This Way". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
When newspaper front pages declared 100,000 dead was an "incalculable loss," what words did you imagine, if any, they might find to describe a figure eight times that?
- ^ Yong, Ed (March 8, 2022). "How Did This Many Deaths Become Normal?". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
Now the nation hurtles toward a milestone of 1 million. What is 10 times incalculable?
- ^ Thrasher, Steven W. "There Is Nothing Normal about One Million People Dead from COVID". Scientific American. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
the newspaper's more recent headline was the cruel and callous "900,000 Dead, but Many Americans Move On."
- ^ "Former Howard University professor ushered generations of scientists into careers in the aerospace industry". Washington Post. May 11, 2020. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ Iati, Marisa (April 17, 2020). "P.T. Barnum relative who paved the way for Pride in Florida dies of coronavirus". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- ^ "Remembering the life of Stephen Chamberlin Jr. 1928 - 2020". The Salem News. April 24, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
- ^ "Read the obituary for Avon selectman Robert Brady". The Boston Globe. May 7, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- ^ Garcia-Narro, Lulu (April 19, 2020). "Community Honors Memory Of Harlem Veterinarian, Mentor Who Died During Pandemic". NPR.org. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ^ "Flagello, Dante". Northwest Georgia News. April 14, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
- ^ Vargas, Ramon Antonio (March 27, 2020). "Theresa Elloie, bar owner and elaborate corsage creator, dies of coronavirus at 63, son says". NOLA.com. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (May 9, 2020). "Jimmy Glenn, Ex-Boxer Whose Times Square Bar Endures, Dies at 89". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- ^ Seelye, Katharine Q. (April 28, 2020). "Norman Gulamerian, Artist With a Grand Passion, Dies at 92". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ Johnson, Luke (March 28, 2020). "Bobby Hebert Sr., 'face of the bayou' and dad of former Saints QB, dies from coronavirus". NOLA.com. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
- ^ Astor, Maggie (April 25, 2020). "Donald Reed Herring, Brother of Elizabeth Warren, Dies of Coronavirus". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- ^ Shkolnikova, Svetlana (June 25, 2020). "Loved and Lost: Estelle Kestenbaum radiated grace, served as mentor to young law clerks". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- ^ Owers, Paul (May 1, 2020). "Philanthropists, FAU donors Barry and Carole Kaye pass away". Retrieved December 24, 2020.
- ^ Miles, Gary (April 29, 2020). "Peter Laker, 93, was a colorful charmer". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- ^ "Philanthropist Artemis Nazarian Dies". The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. April 16, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- ^ "SR 35 (As Adopted by Senate) - Commend life and healthcare service of Sheena Renee Comfort Miles and extend condolences of Mississippi Senate". Mississippi Senate. 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
- ^ "Marguerite Peyser, 89". The Hudson Independent. May 13, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- ^ Roberts, Sam (May 22, 2020). "Lloyd Porter, Cafe Owner Who Found Joy in Everyone, Dies at 49". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- ^ "Charles Samuels, 79; Journalist, Biographer". The New York Times. May 8, 1982. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ "Bernard Seckler". Mathematics Genealogy Project. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
- ^ "Bernard Seckler Obituary (1925 - 2020)". Boston Globe. April 14, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
- ^ Boorstein, Michelle (May 14, 2020). "Ruth Shinn, justice advocate at YWCA and Labor Department, dies at 97". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- ^ "Jaimala 'Mala' Singh, interior designer, creator of South Asian garb, dies of covid-19 at 65". Washington Post. May 7, 2020. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ "Bettie London Traxler obituary (1922 - 2020) The Greenville News". The Greenville News. May 7, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2021 – via Legacy.com.
- ^ "Bill 5436: John C. West, Jr". South Carolina Legislature Online. April 8, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
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