Starting RIP threads: C/D

RIP.

He's mourning dead celebrities up in heaven now

I've only ever started one myself, and it went a bit wrong (I didn't realise the news was embargoed, then I felt bad for breaking that embargo, so I went away for 15 minutes, and everyone ended up shouting at me).

John Peel RIP

So I've tended to avoid them since then.

But I can't deny that my primary impulse in having started that one was b) scoop!, rather than a) sadface. And I suspect that's the case for most starters of these threads.

man, you really got fucked over in that thread

I think it was more shock than anything. Because Jim really did scoop everyone! It turned out a good thread anyway, plenty of interesting links, info. and a genuine feeling of sadness and affection for JP. And now I'm feeling sad again - not that that's Jim's fault...

I blame Jim.

lol at Momus posting to that John Peel thread because he's worried about Julie Burchill.

where is the scoop exactly on RIP threads?

is it a scoop if in about 15 minutes or so the whole world will know about it, if he doesnt already know?

yeah, that's kind of the definition of a scoop

no, a scoop is first of all a piece of info that you know and others don't.
(not one you take from a news site)

Not interested in scoops, I just know that some people get the "news" from ilx as they dont read news sites.

yeah, erm, sorry about that one Jim. I guess I didn't know you back then, and probly couldn't believe that somewhere like ilx would have that sort of news before anywhere else.

they're good when it's something that's really likely to effect the whole community in some way

they're kinda "wha" when it's a guy posting an "RIP" about a celebrity who even the OP might not have known was still alive and everybody else is like "yeah...wow...I remember seeing him on Courtship of Eddie's Father a few times when I was a kid...RIP"

Jim Capaldi RIP

Was this (one of) those?

I did mean it fairly sincerely, it's not something that'd get featured much on other news sites, but for some reason people got all "who? and who cares?" about it.

How can someone's death be embargoed?

I know that one's obituary can be embargoed, but if someone dies suddenly, that's some breaking news.

There can be a press blackout on things, I guess (they do it for royalty so that it can be "officially" announced, AFAIK)

I was awake very late on the night Princess Di died. Just before I went to bed the BBC announcer said that she was conscious in hospital and had been visited by the British Ambassador. Later in the morning they announced that she'd died hours before. I don't mind them holding off on the news to alert families but why lie and say she was ok?

Newsreader, not announcer. Lying fuck.

I have no use for him, but RIP.

I thought this was gonna be about the fakeout RIP threads that Ethan briefly popularized.

Lisa Kudrow RIP

Generally in embargo/breaking situations they like to make sure immediate family know what is going on before the general public does.

Like yesterday with William Hague?

Shit. Can mods delete that post?

wow, can you imagine the punch-up when Lisa Kudrow actually dies?