Writing an Ob Ituary for Press Gazette
You probably already know the obituary page is crowded. Everyone wants their colleague remembered properly, but the bar for a Press Gazette obituary is higher than you might expect. It is not a place to dump every story someone ever wrote. It is a space reserved for people who actually moved the industry forward, and getting a piece published there takes more than just knowing the deceased personally. The core requirement here is scope. Press Gazette readers are media professionals, not general trivia seekers. They want to know what someone did in the field, what angle they pushed, who they bullied into giving interviews, and why their departure matters to the rest of us still working in newsrooms. A typical accepted obituary runs between 500 and 700 words. Editors are ruthless about cutting filler. I learned this the hard way on my second submission. I had written a solid 800-word piece about a broadcast journalist who started at a regional ITN franchise in the late 1980s. My editor at the time sent it back with a note that simply said I was covering the wrong thing. I had spent too much time on the person's life outside work. He wanted the career, not the biography. I rewrote it from scratch in an hour, trimmed it down to 620 words, and it ran two weeks later. That experience changed how I approach every one after that.
Here is what actually gets accepted and what gets rejected most of the time.
What Press Gazette Actually Wants From You
The publication cares about impact within journalism and media. If the person died, but their career was entirely at a newspaper nobody reads anymore, your odds drop significantly unless they did something genuinely notable. Things like pioneering a digital format, breaking a story that shifted policy, starting a publication, or becoming a recognizable on-air name all count. A useful framework I use when drafting is the three-part structure: career overview in the first 150 words, the significant moments and achievements in the middle 350, and a closing paragraph with personal color or a quote. The opening needs to establish who they were quickly. Readers should know within the first sentence whether they should keep reading. Do not start with phrases like "passed away peacefully" or "died after a short illness." Start with the professional identity. Lead with the role, the outlet, the beat. That is how the editors read submissions. They skim the first line and decide instantly.
Get the Full Details
The Verification Problem Most People Miss
The biggest bottleneck I encounter is dates and attribution. When someone freelanced across multiple outlets over twenty years, their bylines scatter everywhere. Regional papers do not always digitize older content. Trade magazines from the 1990s may exist only in physical form. I spent three days once tracking down whether someone actually wrote a specific piece or if it was a ghost assignment. The workaround was to check the masthead of the publication from that week, cross-reference with the British Newspaper Archive, and then call an archive librarian at the National Library of Scotland for confirmation. It added a week to the timeline but prevented me from running a false claim, which would have killed the submission immediately. Another thing: press passes. Many older journalists earned theirs through trade organizations like the Society of Editors. Those records can sometimes help establish professional standing if you need to verify that a freelancer was indeed recognized by the industry.
Common Mistakes That Kill Submissions
The most frequent error is writing something overly sentimental without enough professional substance. Editors see it constantly. Phrases like "a beloved friend and mentor" mean nothing unless paired with a concrete example of mentorship. Show the action. If they trained three reporters who are now section editors, say that. That is the language Press Gazette editors respond to. The second common error is ignoring the family angle entirely. This does not mean dwelling on it, but you need at least one line acknowledging survivors and a quote from a family member or colleague. Without it, the piece feels cold and incomplete. A single line quoting a former editor about the person's work ethic is far better than a full page of biographical detail. There is also a subtle bias toward certain types of journalists. Broadsheet names and broadcast figures get published more frequently than regional print journalists, even when the regional work was equally significant. I have seen perfectly good obituaries for local investigative reporters turned down simply because the name did not carry enough weight with the editorial team. It is unfair, but it is the reality. If you are submitting for someone from a smaller outlet, emphasize the impact their work had, even if it was local. Frame it as significant within that context rather than apologizing for its size.
How to Submit
Submissions go through the Press Gazette website. You will find the obituary submission form under their news or contribute section. The form asks for the subject's full name, dates of birth and death, a brief summary, and the full article text. You should attach a high-resolution photograph if possible. Ideally the photo is one the family can provide or one from a professional portfolio, not a blurry screen grab from social media. Response time is usually two to three weeks. Sometimes faster if the piece is strong, sometimes longer if they need to verify details. Do not resubmit multiple times. One submission, wait the full period, then follow up politely by email if you have not heard anything.
Alternatives If Your Piece Does Not Fit
If Press Gazette rejects your submission, there are still solid options. National newspapers have their own obituary pages with different editorial priorities. Industry-specific outlets like Broadcast Magazine or The Stage publish obituaries for people whose careers fall within their niche. Even some regional titles will run an obituary if the person had a strong local connection, and those pieces often get picked up by larger outlets later. Press Gazette obituaries are prestigious because they reach a specific audience of professionals. But they are not the only valid venue. If your goal is simply to honor someone's career, any well-written obituary in a relevant publication will serve that purpose adequately.
