How obituaries got a jolt of new life in the internet era

When Rush Limbaugh died this year, the mainstream media he had so long railed against gave him the kind of immaculately choreographed send-off that was once reserved for popes and presidents.

Within minutes of his widow announcing his death, major news organizations hit the “publish” button on sophisticated surveys of his life and career — the Associated Press describing the talk-radio titan as “an architect of the modern right-wing,” the New York Times reminding that he “pushed baseless claims and toxic rumors” well before social media emerged as our most potent vector of disinformation.

These obituaries had been years in the making.

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