Only on P.E.I.? Concern over lack of death notices tickles Twitter

A tweet about a little slice of Prince Edward Island newspaper life seems to have struck a chord with people all over the world. In its Aug. 9 edition, the 153-year-old Journal Pioneer carried no obituaries in its pages. Death is big news on P.E.I., so when the local daily newspaper publishes an edition without any obituaries, people notice. Their fears that the well-read daily feature had been accidentally left out were allayed as, in a rare occurrence, the Journal Pioneer simply did not receive any death notices from local funeral homes. The absence prompted two calls to the office from concerned readers, which led reporter Colin MacLean to tweet the following on his @JournalPMacLean Twitter account: “There were no obituaries in today’s paper. People are calling, wondering what happened to them. Just ... nobody died.” Since it was published the observation has gone viral. It was liked 25,000 times, retweeted 3, 738 times and reached at least 1.65 million people on Twitter alone. Screenshots of the tweet were also taken by various Facebook and Instagram meme sites, some with millions of followers of their own, and shared widely on those platforms as well. Folks really seemed to get a kick out of the observation. Some took it literally in that, well, nobody in the world died that day. Which was apparently the plot of a “Torchwood” TV episode that resonated with “Dr. Who” fans. There was also a lot of talk of the zombie apocalypse. As in, no deaths meant there must be undead. Others, mostly from large urban centres, were amused at what they saw as the quaint nature of P.E.I. news. And other, many journalists or people connected to the newspaper industry, were nostalgic for local newspapers. We’ve collected some of the more interesting and funny responses here: @mattgurney “It was a plot point in a twilight zone (second reboot) episode.” @Jomeara555 “What is equally confusing is how these people die in alphabetical order.” @RyanVanHorne “PEI will be the last bastion of print in North America, mark my words.” @InMyMargins “Have you ever had to take phone calls after your paper forgets to print the crossword? If not, I strongly recommend avoiding it. The wrath of the puzzle people is unparalleled. :)” @Utmostechelon “What kind of ‘Torchwood,’ ‘Supernatural’ darkness is this?” @Pentimentos “The obits were my grandma’s fave section. She and my great grandparents had an unspoken contest re: who could share the news first.”