obituary- William Crosby Jr. had three wives.

Reporting: 327

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/02/obituaries/02crosby.html?oref=regi

What I like about the typical New York Times obituary that is authored, is that it actually shows that the deceased person actually had a life. So often obituaries are written with stale information that makes the person's life seem so bland.

Lawrence K. Altman wrote a very nice obituary about William Crosby Jr, a hemotologist who invented on of the first devices to obtain biopsies in the bowel--Interesting!

The obituary focues on what Crosby was most well known for, which was his invention. The article relays little in terms of his personal/family life but I assume the reason why he is entitled to an authored obituary is because of his invention, so therefore that is why Altman focused on it. But then again, upon reading the obit, I come to realize that the study of hemotology was obviously Crosby Jr's passion so therefore that was most likely something that influenced his personal life. The author also focuses on his Crosby Jr's research and accomplishments other than his invention; for example (taken directly from the obituary)"Crosby was the first to theorize correctly that a type of anemia known as favism resulted from a deficiency of an enzyme, G6PD, among people who ingested fava, or broad, beans. "


I like how the author interviewed people who know Crosby Jr. and it makes the obit seem so much more personal .
At the end of the obit, there is a nice tidbit of information stating that he has been married three times, also interesting.

For will be writing my mothers obituary for the obituary writing assignment.


Questions from Reading-

Problems with commercial databases-
A commercial database is a gathering source for news articles or information that has already been written about a certain topic. There are many things that one must watch for when gathering information from this type of source. 1-Don't plagarize because there is something called copyright infringment, and one doens't want to do that. 2- This may not always be the best source because the information one may be looking for may not be on the database. For example, death notices or social announcement. 3-Because the piece was published, doesn't mean that is is fully accurate and one doesn't know if the reporter fully knew what he or she was talking about when he/she wrote the piece. 4.Databases are entered into the system by other humans, which mean that biased information or the a biased organization of the information could be a possiblity. IE- only putting articles in a database that prove a point, promote a position or cause.

First thing a reporter should do when assigned a story-

The book says that if the story is not breaking news, the first stop a reporter should turn to for information is the morgue-