Biographical archive (press)
A biographical archive (colloquially: corpse storage) is a central storage location with specially prepared collections of articles for news and press agencies in the event of the death of a famous person .
This ensures that customers of the news agencies can access extensive information and analyzes about the life and work of the deceased celebrity just a few minutes after the actual death becomes known. These pieces of news were of course written at a time when the celebrity was still alive and possibly little or nothing to indicate his death. Often only the time of death, the place and, if necessary, information on the circumstances of the death are missing in the articles.
This lead in time, which arises thanks to the biographical archive, can be very decisive for newspapers if the news of death only becomes known shortly before the next issue is printed.
According to the communications and media scientist Jürgen Wilke , the archive of the German market leader among news agencies, the German Press Agency , contained information on around 200 famous people in 2000.
The agencies often use their archives as the basis for their contributions - for example portraits that were written on the occasion of a special birthday. However, they are always aimed at the death of the celebrity and the resulting consequences - which of course has to remain vague, since there are no sources during his lifetime that can be used for this type of pre-production. In the course of further reporting, the current statements and condolations on death are incorporated into the initial contributions, so that in the end not much is reminiscent of the original version.
Many pieces for a post are predictable. For example articles for the possible death of ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl or Pope Benedict XVI. In the case of rather surprising deaths such as that of musician Michael Jackson , it can happen that the archive is incomplete or even empty for the specific case. The agencies are then helped by services such as the Munzinger Archive , which offers regularly updated biographies of celebrities online.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wilke, Jürgen: From the agency to the editorial office, page 39