Why Was Amy Winehouse’s Obit on A1 of the LA Times and not Betty Ford’s?

The LA Times is taking a little heat from one of its readers over the decision to run the obit of Amy Winehouse on its cover, but not of former first lady Betty Ford. Reader Colleen Bennett writes: “OK, let me get this straight. The L.A. Times didn’t think the death of Betty Ford, former first lady and substance abuse treatment icon, deserved a front page obituary. But Amy Winehouse, a flash-in-the-pan singer who didn’t see the need to recover from said substance abuse, does?”

Good question. Kind of cute too. How many people do you see get all worked up about newspaper covers these days?

Anyway, LA Times reader representative Deirdre Edgar says that deadlines are to blame. “Winehouse’s death was reported before noon Saturday, leaving plenty of time to be considered for Sunday’s front page.”

News of Ford’s death, on the other hand, broke late on a Friday.

This is the kind of thing that many worried about when the Times decided to shutter its Orange County printing plant and create the LATExtra section for late-breaking news. But, again, the complaint really just seems quaint at this point. Even though the writer’s point is legitimate, can you see anyone under 30 getting worked up about this? In the age of the Internet, obits are old news by the time they hit paper anyway.

 

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