Omituaries

Counter-narrative, never counterfactual.

Omituaries is an independent editorial project about the public records that conventional obituaries omit, minimize, or soften. When a major public figure dies, the first wave of coverage often compresses a complicated life into a familiar tribute. We put the missing record back in view.

This is not a venue for speaking ill of the dead, a celebration of death, or an excuse for partisan score-settling. Accountability does not stop at party lines: this is people scrutinizing people in power.

The standard

Counter-narrative, never counterfactual. Every material claim must be supportable by the public record, uncertain or disputed facts are labeled as such, and errors are corrected visibly. Read the full editorial standards and evidence rules and the corrections policy.

Who stands behind the work

Early work is published under the institutional byline Omituaries Ed. Learn what the Omituaries Ed. byline means and where final editorial authority rests.

First subject

Our initial preparedness work centers on Senator Mitch McConnell, whose long tenure and institutional influence make his record an appropriate test of the premise. This is readiness, not a prediction. See the Mitch McConnell living record, a sourced guide that stands on its own while he is living.