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 died from COVID-19 during the pandemic, as the U.S. death toll reached 100,000.

Front page of The New York Times on May 24, 2020

Background

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

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]

Notable deaths

Among the obituaries there were a number of notable deaths:

The list also included:

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". The 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'". The Patriot-News. May 24, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  6. 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.
  7. "Read the obituary for Avon selectman Robert Brady". The Boston Globe. May 7, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. Owers, Paul (May 1, 2020). "Philanthropists, FAU donors Barry and Carole Kaye pass away". Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  12. Miles, Gary (April 29, 2020). "Peter Laker, 93, was a colorful charmer". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  13. "Philanthropist Artemis Nazarian Dies". The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. April 16, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  14. "Marguerite Peyser, 89". The Hudson Independent. May 13, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  15. 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.
  16. "Bernard Seckler". Mathematics Genealogy Project. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  17. "Bernard Seckler Obituary (1925 - 2020)". Boston Globe. April 14, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
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