It's been debunked now but I have to say that as a journalist I've not noticed the creeping use of euphemism in reports about death.
What I would say is that when I am interviewing someone whose loved one has died, and I've done that a lot, I use the terms they want me to use. I don't need to be told, I listen to what they say and take it from there.
The point of the meeting is that they talk to me. Not for me to give them a lesson in the correct use of language.
When writing it up, I use 'dead', 'died', 'killed', 'murdered' in narrative. I use 'took his own life' or 'killed himself' rather than 'committed suicide' because some people think that term implies that the person has committed a crime. I can see their point
But when quoting them I use the terms they use. Not to do so would be making it up, which is a crime in my book.
I've never been confused during an interview and thought the person we were discussing was down the shops if someone told me they'd 'gone away'. So I don't understand the people on this thread who claim that euphemisms could lead to misunderstanding. You'd have to have a very literal mind, English as a second language or mulish to make that mistake.
When someone has been murdered or has died because of someone else's negligence, their family usually doesn't use the term 'passed away'. If they want to use a euphemism they say: 'taken from us', which is true, isn't it?