Radio France International unexpectedly released the Queen's obituary, apologizing: technical problems, and these celebrities have been "passed away"

"The obituary is the invisible invisible man, and the person who is no longer there is. If they were doing the job of writing obituaries in advance for the press, and died before the object of their writing, they would become dead people writing about the dead. What a hell of a job. In one of the most widely circulated books in the West, "Obituary First, Then Heaven," author Marilyn Johnson wrote.

In fact, writing obituaries for characters in advance is not new in the media circle, but what if one day, these obituaries drafts are sent in advance?

On November 16, local time, The French Radio International (RFI) unexpectedly released the obituaries of Queen Elizabeth II, former US President Jimmy Carter, Ball King Bailey and nearly 100 elderly public celebrities, shocking many netizens.

Although they were shocked by such content as "Britain lost its queen: Elizabeth II has survived in people's imagination" and "Ball King Bailey died", keen netizens quickly realized that only RFI published these "obituaries" on the whole network, and the obituaries released were basically drafts to be edited, and many important details were left blank. As written about the Queen of England: "The Queen is because ... He died on April 21, 2020, at the age of 94. ”

RFI quickly removed the article afterwards and posted a brief apology on Twitter, saying that the obituary was issued collectively due to "technical issues" and that "we apologize to those involved and who have been following and supporting us." ”

It turned out that when staff migrated the draft obituaries to the new content management system, the draft was accidentally published due to a technical failure. RFI is currently conducting an internal investigation.

The Daily Mail sent a wave of ridicule: "French radio killed the Queen: after publishing obituaries by celebrities such as Her Majesty the Queen, Bailey, Clint Eastwood and Khamenei, the public radio blamed it on 'technical problems'." The New York Times followed suit: "Not dead yet: News sites have mistakenly published dozens of VIP obituaries." However, the BBC, which is also a broadcaster, helped out to explain: "Broadcasters and media often prepare relevant materials in advance in order to be able to issue obituary in time when celebrities declare their deaths." However, some people pointed out that in 2015, BBC reporters also posted on Twitter that the Queen had died.

These celebrities who have been "declared dead" have no shortage of people with good mentalities. Lina Renault, a 92-year-old French actress and singer, tweeted: "This premature statement makes me laugh! As you can see, I'm doing well! When that moment comes, this article (obituary) has a lot of information to update! Abdoulaye Wade, who served as Senegal's third president, posted his latest photo on Facebook and quipped: "Not everyone has a chance to see their obituary when they are alive (laughs)." Journalist Yang Jie

Celebrities who have been "passed away"

Due to the existence of celebrity effects, many people tend to stare at their lives and deaths.

So that one day when the wind blows, it will not distinguish between true and false, and rush to forward false news. Over the years, there have not been many celebrities who have been "killed".

Jin yong 's

The representative of China's "professional households that have been killed" is Mr. Jin Yonglao. According to incomplete statistics, before his actual death, Jin Yong had been "died" more than 20 times. So much so that some people say that if it is true every time, jin Yong received a wreath estimated to be enough to circle the earth.

Morgan Freeman

On February 19, 2013, Hollywood veteran Morgan Freeman was revealed to have died of a heart attack in Los Angeles. This was his Nth death, and the causes of death were similar – from heart disease. For Morgan Freeman, the more unfortunate thing is that he not only has to bear his own "death", but also is often pulled out to block the gun for people - when former South African President Mandela was "killed", many social networking sites hung up photos of Morgan Freeman.

Russell Crowe

Hollywood star Russell Crowe, who has starred in films such as "A Beautiful Mind" and "Superman: Man of Steel," was reported to have died while climbing a mountain in 2010. In response, the Australian actor replied: "I can't reply to Twitter, I just fell off a mountain in Australia, I don't know how I fell, but the media will never be wrong, goodbye guys." ”

Santa Claus

The funniest thing is that Santa Claus has not escaped the disaster. According to the British newspaper The Independent on December 8, 2015, a Norwegian newspaper published an obituary announcing that Santa Claus had died at the age of 226. The obituary does not mention the specific cause of death, only speculation that Santa Claus may have died in a sleigh accident or a verbal altercation with a reindeer. Comprehensive Xinhua news agency report

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Choose Hillary or Trump? Choose heaven

In fact, in addition to the obituary of celebrities, the obituary of many ordinary people in foreign media newspapers also hides warmth and humor:

Today, 83-year-old Norma Ms. R. Brewer, while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, her dog Mia raw swallowed her socks and boots, eventually causing Ms. Norma to die of ill health due to inability to withstand the cold. Although she did not climb to the top of Kilimanjaro, at least she reached the camp of the climbing team. (In fact, this passage was written by Norma when she was alive, because she hoped that the person who read the obituary would laugh and say, "Ah, yes, this is Norma!") ”）

"Selma Cork, the owner of a shop in Manhattan, is so adept at choosing the most appropriately sized bra for women, most of the time it only takes a glimpse of the moment, never having to compare it with a soft ruler. She moved the country with this name. On Thursday this week, Selma Cork died at Mount Sinai Medical Center at the age of ninety-four with a bra size 34B. ”

"Dr. Atkins, a dietary physician who has helped a large number of ladies and at the same time hit the lives of their husbands and lovers hard, unfortunately slipped on the icy sidewalk, and died and could not get up again. Why can't I get up? Because he weighs three hundred pounds! ”

Henry Jordano had always been an ordinary pharmacist, but later he began working for the Federal Narcotics Administration. The agency is the predecessor of the Drug Regulatory Authority. When he got there, he found himself gifted for clandestine activities. He could dress himself up as a scruffy street drug dealer, an overnight rich liar, a small gambler, a fugitive, a sailor. No one can see the flaws. He has won the trust of several notorious and ruthless criminal gangs. With his assistance, many gang leaders and minions were found guilty. As a result of his work, dozens of criminals were sent to prison. ”

"Faced with the prospect of being able to choose between Trump or Hillary, Richmond-born Mary Anne Nolan chose to die on May 15, 2016, bathed in God's love forever at the age of 68." This newspaper is comprehensive

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The New York Times has more than 1,600 obituaries

So, how do big international media agencies deal with celebrity obituaries? This is a question that can be answered by the 2016 documentary Obit. The film, which took 95 minutes, was presented in its entirety within the Editorial Board of The New York Times, fully illustrating the daily life of the obituary author.

One of the reasons documentaries target the New York Times is that they are one of the few media outlets with full-time obituary authors. The Obituary Page of the New York Times is placed around the A-stack 20 page, closely following the National report, which is enough to reflect its importance. The New York Times database typically has 1,600 to 1,700 advance obituaries, increasing at about 3 times a week — about the same rate of database consumption.

According to data at the time, about 2.59 million people die each year in the United States, and only 1,000 of them will be posthumously featured in the New York Times. These "lucky ones" will receive an obituary of about 800 words written by a full-time obituary author. The content of the obituary is 90% about life and 10% about death. The main part is their biography. And many people have already "approved" the obituary in the New York Times before they die. Shortly after the death of the American violinist Mr. Stern in 2001, the New York Times published an obituary for him. However, part of the story was written before his death and was reviewed by himself.

It is worth mentioning that when Cuba's late leader Castro died in 2016, the Washington Post published his obituary, and the obituary was written by Smith. Incredibly, this Smith died as early as 2006. When CNN released the Castro obituary that year, a small note was exposed by insiders. The note read: If Bush died before Castro, change the number of U.S. presidents who died before Castro to 7.

Death is unpredictable, but life can be prepared early by regular updates. In other words, for the authors of these obituary, all the celebrities who enter their field of vision have been drafted as obituaries. Because most of the photographs published are based on images from the deceased's lifetime, editors will laugh and say that "we are one of the few departments in the New York Times that does not use photographers." Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Zhang Zheng

【Source: Xiaoxiang Morning News】

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