This past Sunday’s edition of the New York Times (May 24, 2020) marked a first in the publication’s modern era; a front page without any image(s), just text.

The list includes the name, age, and hometown of 1,000 coronavirus victims, along with a brief description of each person.

In addition to the front page, the list spanned another two pages within. One example of the 1,000 reads like this: “Romi Cohn, 91, New York City, saved 56 Jewish families from the Gestapo.”

 

 

Simone Landon, assistant editor of the Graphics desk, and project lead, wanted to represent the number in a way that conveyed both the vastness and the variety of lives lost.

“We knew we were approaching this milestone,” she added. “We knew that there should be some way to try to reckon with that number.” [source]

Online, readers can scroll down for the names, descriptive phrases and an essay written by Dan Barry, a Times reporter and columnist. The number “one hundred thousand” tolls again and again.

The interactive feature, “An Incalculable Loss”, can be seen here.