ABSTRACT
The coverage of death in the news allows for a discussion of the historical, political, and cultural ramifications of journalistic depictions of death. We discuss communication scholarship that analyzes images of death and dying in various contexts that include war, terrorism, assassination, suicides, celebrity deaths, natural disasters, and tragedies such as the Challenger disaster. Personal memories, interviews with practicing journalists, and a discussion of evaluative criteria and best practices when covering death in the news are included in this chapter. We discuss the ways in which ideas of newsworthiness and decency influence the depiction of death in the news, and the ways in which images of death in the news affect journalists and the public alike.
