Princess Diana dies/is dead

[faya]

Yesterday I saw a part of British newspaper says "Princess Diana dies". In fact, I don't understand if there is any difference between that option and "Princess Diana is dead".
I really want to know in what situation we use "dead" and "dies". Thank you for your help! I really don't want to say something incorrect when talk about death

 

[teechar]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum.

Yesterday, I saw a part of British newspaper says "Princess Diana dies" in a British newspaper.

Please tell us where you found that. If you can, give us the link.

In fact, I don't understand if there is any difference between that option and "Princess Diana is dead".

We'll comment further after you tell us where you came across that line.

I really want to know in what situation we use "dead" and "dies". Thank you for your help! I really don't want to say something incorrect when talking about death.

 

[faya]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum.

Please tell us where you found that. If you can, give us the link.

We'll comment further after you tell us where you came across that line.

Sorry, I can't find the original picture, but I found a part of collage about princess Grace with the same sentence

 

[emsr2d2]

Please remember to note down the source details of anything you want to ask us about in future.

In journalism, the present tense is commonly used to refer to very recent events.
Edit: I want to add that the tense is mainly used in the headline to a story, but not necessarily in the rest of the piece.

 

[5jj]

Newspaper headline: Princess X dies.
TV announcement/general conversation: Princess X has died/Princess X died early this morning.

There are not many situations in which we would report this as Princess X is dead.

 

[jutfrank]

Princess Grace dies. [active]
Princess Grace is dead. [stative]

News media tends to report events (actions) rather than states.

I really don't want to say something incorrect when talk about death

Are you asking us what you should say to inform someone that somebody has died?

 

[Skrej]

Some very current examples from the last day or so.

James Earl Jones Dies
James Earl Jones Dies at 93
James Earl Jones Dead at 93
James Earl Jones Dead at 93

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Plus a couple of example where headlines use complete sentences:

James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader, has died at the age of 93
James Earl Jones, actor and the voice of Darth Vader, has died at the age of 93

Remember that these (as well as your original examples) are headlines, so there aren't any hard and fast rules other than to try and minimize space and maximize information.

With the advent of online news sources, space is no longer the premium it once was with the restrictions of physical space removed, so you sometimes see longer headlines online than you would have if confined to a physical paper source.

Still, the tradition continues of giving maximum information in minimal space to grab the reader's attention. The idea is to draw the reader's attention as they're scanning the headlines and draw them into the article.

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