Awful Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi headline inspires #WaPoDeathNotices

Headline-writing can be hard, chaps. Especially when you have to capture the true spirit of a person in the light of their death. But with the demise of Isis founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a truly heinous individual, surely putting his character into black and white is a black-and-white issue.

If you’re the Washington Post, apparently not, as Spectator contributor Kelly Jane Torrance was one of the first to point out.

https://twitter.com/KJTorrance/status/1188467380491640833

‘Austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State dies at 48’, the paper crowed, dolefully commemorating the life of the man who inspired hundreds of deaths.

Obviously, the headline of his obituary has since been changed. ‘Regarding our al-Baghdadi obituary, the headline should never have read that way and we changed it quickly,’ tweeted Post communications VP Kristine Coratti Kelly. But not before Twitter wags started to chip in with some of their #WaPoDeathNotices. Here are Cockburn’s favorites…

https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/1188482231930675200

https://twitter.com/Harry1T6/status/1188501310582206464

https://twitter.com/publius57/status/1188486321230225414

https://twitter.com/wrmead/status/1188478161111138306

https://twitter.com/robbysoave/status/1188528161945980928

https://twitter.com/NumbersMuncher/status/1188536549962588165

https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1188511134946680833

https://twitter.com/DansEyepatch/status/1188486039645642755

https://twitter.com/DanWilbur/status/1188508442895486978

https://twitter.com/JoshsBurnerAcct/status/1188501048471838721

https://twitter.com/BDSixsmith/status/1188487193272172546

https://twitter.com/mike_sell/status/1188504524144762883