Posted on 09/06/2004 9:42:11 AM PDT by Nachum
As Bill Clinton hit the operating table at 6:45 a.m. at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia in upper Manhattan, MSNBC almost simultaneously was preparing a video package of the former president's obituary -- just in case.
From: Hitchins, Charles (NBC Universal, MSNBC)
Sent: Monday, September 06, 2004 6:25 AM
To: @MSNBC Newsforce Staff
Subject: Clinton Obit
Just in case it's needed
Mitchell Obit on Clinton
C1052
Trt 3:47
That'd be The Ultimate Arkancide.
This is a cheap shot.
pretty morbid
Good grief.
They had one for Regan for years. They wanted to interview Michael for it but he refuse and was offerend by it.
Sounds like standard procedure to me.
Sounds like PMSNBC might be hoping to see Clinton pass on so Kerry can get a post-mortem bounce...
Not surprising. I'd read *somewhere* that news outlets keep obits on hand, update them as needed, for aging celebrities. In the case of Clinton undergoing major surgery, who knows?
My hubby has said that people often lose several IQ points after bypass surgery. True or not true?
Obits are prewritten and updated for all famous people. But you know that, don't you?
Newspapers have obituaries prepared for almost every famous American all the time. This is nothing unusual. I'm sure they had an obit for Bill Clinton long before today.
Morbid, but practical. News organizations regularly update obituaries for famous, living people, so they'll have them ready if needed. If someone is ill/hospitalized, they're more likely to make sure their obit is updated.
Not to mention this is standard procedure. As I understand, networks and newspapers often write obits in advance. Sometimes someone gets lazy and the obit is printed prehumously :)
They'd better hurry up and invent a legacy, first.
IOW, they have updated it. I'm sure every major media outlet is doing the same.
SOP is to write obits for public figures well in advance, revising them as events may warrant.
This is not news.
Every major newspaper, wire service and broadcaster has stock obituaries of important public figures, updated regularly, ready to print or air on a moment's notice.
Hillary probably reserves immediate rights to anything printed and Tim Russert's _ _ _ _ _!
You're right. Someone had theirs accidently released a couple of years ago, though for the life of me, I can't remember whos it was.
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