Comments on: 5 Online Mistakes that Caused a Market Frenzy

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:23:00 +0000

Years ago, a friend of mine had an internship with a newspaper in DC, and he showed me some of the pre-fab obits of famous people his paper had. All they have to do is plug in the dates and details of his or her death, and run it.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:44:00 +0000

“Why do they have a running obit for Steve Jobs? Is it just in case he does actually drop dead, so they can post it immediately?”

Yes; this is common practice in journalism for celebrities & public figures.

By: Judy

Judy — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:15:00 +0000

It’s scary that Steve Jobs is that important to the company’s well being. Surely they must have plans to keep it going after his demise. Recaptcha: Writers awaken

By: Erik

Erik — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:57:00 +0000

CK: Yes, and all news organizations have them on hand for any major figure. A few years ago, some of CNN’s were available on their website for a while (Cheney and some others). It occasionally happens that the lead byline on an obit will be from a reporter who is already dead, since it was written years earlier, and the details were just filled in.

Sounds like a floss article.

By: JD

JD — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:29:00 +0000

“…the Dow fell a few hundred points (unlike now, such volatility meant something back then).”

Ha, that made me laugh out loud!

By: CK

CK — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:51:00 +0000

Why do they have a running obit for Steve Jobs? Is it just in case he does actually drop dead, so they can post it immediately?