ICYMI, 2016 saw a record number of jailed journalists in Turkey and a spike in celebrity deaths, as well as a legal dispute between songwriters and radio stations that could affect your favorite music. Start your week of right and catch up on these top stories from Law Street below!

1. Turkey Jailed Record Number of Journalists in 2016, CPJ Says

Freedom of speech is at an all-time low worldwide, according to an annual report from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). As of December 1, 2016, there are 259 journalists imprisoned internationally, with Turkey accounting for nearly a third of the global total–making 2016 the worst year for journalists since the watchdog group began in 1990. Read the full article here.

2. Radio Stations vs. Songwriters: Will Your Favorite Music Be Affected?

Grab your aux cord, because there’s a possibility that your favorite radio station is about to lose the rights to a lot of music. A legal dispute between music rights organization Global Music Rights (GMR), which represents songwriters for artists such as Pharrell, Drake, and The Beatles, and the Radio Music Licensing Committee (RMLC), a group that represents commercial radio stations in music licensing matters, could pull a lot of songs by major artists off of radio stations nationwide. Read the full article here.

3. Is it Just Us, or Were There a Lot of Celebrity Deaths in 2016?

It has become a common sentiment–2016 was awful. One frequent complaint: a bunch of celebrity deaths. It even felt bizarre at points–just how many legendary music stars and acting icons was the Grim Reaper going to take away from us at a time when we need them the most? Think about it: David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Leonard Cohen, Prince, Muhammad Ali, and Gene Wilder all passed away this year. Read the full article here.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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It has become a common sentiment–2016 was awful. One frequent complaint: a bunch of celebrity deaths. It even felt bizarre at points–just how many legendary music stars and acting icons was the Grim Reaper going to take away from us at a time when we need them the most? Think about it: David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Leonard Cohen, Prince, Muhammad Ali, and Gene Wilder all passed away this year.

“Harambe died, America died, Prince and other famous people died.”—Description of 2016 by my 11-year-old, who should be president.

— Ken Layne (@KenLayne) December 2, 2016

So did a lot more celebrities die this year? Or did it just feel that way? The BBC actually looked into that question. It sent its obituaries editor Nick Serpell to check whether there was an abnormal number of stars who died this year.

Serpell analyzed how many pre-prepared obituaries the BBC aired or posted over its TV, radio, and website outlets, from the years 2012-2016. And, interestingly enough, there was huge increase in star deaths in just the first three months of 2016—with twice as many notable deaths compared to the same months in 2015, and five times as many when compared to 2012.

No, It’s NOT Our Imagination. More Famous People HAVE Died in 2016. https://t.co/B5nF6ho3nF pic.twitter.com/alywiBcdtv

— Alan Cross (@alancross) December 16, 2016

Bear in mind though that this is not a completely reliable number to weigh. The BBC doesn’t run an obituary for every single celebrity who dies, and it was only the pre-prepared ones that were measured.

According to Serpell, the spike in celebrity deaths was early and didn’t last. “The last six months of this year were broadly in line with the previous last six months of the previous four or five years,” he said. But, there was an overall increase of 30 percent, which is still noteworthy. “In 2012, we had a total of 16. In 2013, it went to 24. In 2014, it rose again to 29. In 2015, it rose slightly again to 32. For 2016, as of [December 15], it stands at 42,” he said.

I wanna take a moment to remind you how many famous people died (so far) in 2016.

If everyone could stop dying – that’d be great. Thanks. pic.twitter.com/stgjqGepPi

— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) November 25, 2016

So, maybe it felt like there was a spike in deaths this year since there were a lot of big names who died, leaving a seemingly large vacuum.  And as Serpell points out, that actually makes a lot of sense. The golden days of the 1960s–when pop culture and TV really exploded–were roughly half a century ago. People who became stars became huge stars. But today, there’s significantly more diversity, so a lot of stars are less universally recognized.

It’s also important to note that the death rate is up generally, because of the enormity of the baby-boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1964. In the U.S., there were about 76 million baby-boomers in 2014–about 23 percent of the U.S. population. These people are now between 52 and 70 years old. That means we may see more celebrity obituaries soon, so get ready and brace yourselves for 2017.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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