There's something rather tentative about BBC News' Online's reporting of the death of Tom Lehrer - given the size of the BBC operation in the United States.
"American musical satirist Tom Lehrer dies at 97, US media report". Aren't we sure ? Is it a job for Verify ? It goes on (this version online at 7.45 GMT) "His death was confirmed to the New York Times by David Herder, a friend."
More bits have been borrowed: "He graduated early from the Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut, according to the New York Times". "He also taught maths and musical theatre courses at the University of California from 1972 to 2001, according to the New York Times."
Does the BBC not have an Obituaries operation any more? In days of yore, the obit of someone of Lehrer's standing would've been written, recorded and packaged into a variety of formats & durations well beforehand. And what fun it would have been to produce. All you had to do was add what was known about the circumstances of his passing. Reuters and AP agree? It's fact.
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