Obituaries vs. business news

Hal Morris, who blogs about journalism on the GrumpyEditor web site, has an interesting observation about what newspapers devote their space to these days.

Morris wrote, “Grumpy Editor notes at a time when newspapers’ business section earnings and dividend tables are being whittled, and stock market lists are being chopped or eliminated, major dailies are devoting more space to the deceased.  For obituaries, the Los Angeles Times, for example, has a separate executive editor, a deputy editor and five writers.  That’s the size of a medium-size newspaper’s business section staff.”

Ouch. He’s referring to the launch of a new magazine devoted to obituaries called Obit. Business news is being cut while other sections such as obituaries are being added.

Read more here.