A News Obituary is a brief biographical summary of the highlights of a person’s life and career and is written by the news staff of The Washington Post. Many newspapers used to run these for free, but now it's more common to charge a fee. On Tuesday, Governor Charlie Baker ordered all Massachusetts schools to stay closed through the end of the academic year, and extended the closure of non-emergency child care programs until June 29. He also signaled on Saturday that the state’s stay-at-home advisory and shutdown of all non-essential businesses, which are set to expire May 4, will probably remain in effect until the recent wave of cases subsides. As Massachusetts continues to grapple with the deadly coronavirus, the paid death notices in this Sunday’s edition of The Boston Globe’s surged — to 21 pages, up from 16 pages the Sunday before. There is no charge for a News Obituary, but it does not include any information about funeral services, memorials or donations. The public is often confused about how a death may be reported (if at all) in the media. Coronavirus deaths crossed the 2,500 threshold this past week, although the number of new deaths reported has been declining slightly since April 19, according to state figures. The reason for that is as simple as it is devastating: The Globe ran out of room. Some overseas deaths in Australia, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom were also noted. The state also reported 1,590 new cases, bringing that total to 54,938. Information for a News Obituary should be sent to The Washington Post by e-mail (newsobits@washpost.com) no later than 30 days after the date of death. “When I logged on yesterday at noon, I had a message saying we’re going to need more space.”. Family members may also choose to purchase ad space for memorial notices, either immediately after the death or in the years following, perhaps as an anniversary-of-death remembrance. Jaclyn Reiss can be reached at jaclyn.reiss@globe.com. “The surge has been a little bit later than that.". The state on Sunday reported 169 new deaths from the coronavirus, bringing the total fatalities in Massachusetts to 2,899. One possible reason for the size of the Sunday death notice section is that with funerals and memorial services suspended due to pandemic gathering restrictions, some families who would otherwise run notices on other days might opt for that edition, the Globe’s most well read. . “Sunday’s main news and sports sections together were 60 pages, and we set aside 20 pages for death notices,” said Mary Creane, assistant managing editor for production at the Globe, who was in charge of production Saturday night. Although there was no immediate way to determine how many of the deceased were coronavirus victims, some of the notices mentioned a battle with COVID-19. fb Share Tweet Email. The number of death notices also climbed from the previous Sunday, in which the Globe ran 16 pages of such tributes. But death notices may also be the term a newspaper uses for its classified advertisements in which families pay a set fee to have the wording they choose appear in the classifieds section of the newspaper. February 23, 2004 7:00 PM. Angora, Christopher M. (Memoriam) CHRISTOPHER M. ANGORA. In most cases, someone must have lived in the Washington metropolitan area for a minimum of 20 years and lived longer in in the D.C. area than anywhere else. Special Projects. For comparison, on the same Sunday last year —April 28, 2019 — the Globe ran seven pages of death notices, according to an archive of the paper. Browse New York Times obituaries, conduct other obituary searches, offer condolences/tributes, send flowers or create an online memorial. Print Share . The Washington Post has two ways of announcing a death: Death Notices and News Obituaries. They are free, and the family may request that certain information may be included or excluded, but there is no guarantee. Some notices run during the week as well, but far fewer than on Sunday. These may be found under the header of Death Notices. Paid Plain Dealer death notices reworked to improve readability. “It could’ve gone over more, quite honestly,” she said. It is important to note that a Death Notice is the only place in The Washington Post where information about funeral services, memorials, donations, surviving family members or personal remembrances can be listed.