This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

UT: "Mandela dead" - so good riddance?

"the county of San Diego deserves a better leading newspaper"

Sadly, a living legend died today, but what made it even sadder for me was UT San Diego's callous and disrespectful subject line, "Mandela dead".

I find it hard to believe "Mandela dead" was the best Manchester's UT San Diego could come up with for a man that deserves the worlds utmost respect.

Beside Patch and nixle.com alerts I also receive news alerts locally and nationally, none felt compelled to announce Mandela's death with such an air of satisfaction. 

What's up with that? Or, am I being overly sensitive about the passing of a personal role model and hero of mine?

Going back through my UT San Diego "death, dead, died and killed" email alerts, I found the same disrespectful subject line for James Gandolfini - HBO's star gangster - last June...

  • Mandela dead - 12/05
  • Actor Paul Walker killed in car crash - 12/01
  • Man's body found in Oceanside Harbor - 11/23
  • Driver commits suicide on I-5 near San Onofre - 11/20
  • Man Killed in trolley accident - 11/19
  • Remains in desert are missing McStays - 11/15
  • Four Marines die - 11/13
  • Junior Seau's brother Tony Seau dies - 10/11
  • Author Tom Clancy dies - 10/02
  • Man shot in head - 09/24
  • Gandolfini dead - 06/19
While crassness in announcing Gandolfini's death may be justifiable - not Mandela's, he deserved better - and the county of San Diego deserves a better leading newspaper.


We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?