I know this is not going to be a particularly popular topic (maybe it will be!) but you have either heard on the radio (I taped an interview with the local station this morning) or heard it word of mouth, but the Journal-Courier will start charging a nominal fee for expanded obituaries in the newspaper.

Now, before you decide that we are evil people, let me try to explain the reasoning behind the decision and what we will be offering for the fee.

Obituary information is an important part of information in the newspaper each day. We know from research that it is one of the most read sections of the newspaper and our Web site statistics tell us that it is consistently one of the top 5 most read sections of www.myjournalcourier.com. We realize this information is important to you.

We have in the past allowed obituary information, no matter how long and descriptive to be run at no charge. The obituaries most days take up an entire page in the newspaper, many times much more space, depending on the number of deaths and the length of the obituaries. The cost to produce this space on a daily basis is very expensive. As everyone knows, it isn’t getting cheaper to produce products nowadays, and the newspaper is no different. To put it plain and simple, we had to do something to cover these increased costs.

We could have raised advertising rates. However right now we felt that wasn’t the best idea. We need our advertisers to advertise their businesses and sell their products. Our local economy needs this more than ever. We could raise subscription prices, however I think they are high enough. I’m sure you agree with that statement!

So we are back at obituaries. A majority of newspapers all over the country charge for expanded obituary information. We are definitely not the first one to do so. Our neighboring daily newspapers directly to our east and west have been charging for years. We have held off on this decision as long as we possibly could.

Just to be clear, we are NOT charging to tell you, our readers, who died and when their services will be conducted. This information will run both in the newspaper and on our Web site for free. What we are going to start charging for is what is considered expanded obituaries. These are the ones that contain a brief history of the deceased person’s life and information. The decision on which type of obituary the family wishes to run is completely at their discretion. The newspaper will not require that the basic information be paid. I wanted to make sure this was clear. If the family wishes to let everyone know all about their loved one, they can do so at a very nominal charge.

The fee is called “nominal” because the rate we are charging is basically the same rate we charge non-profit organizations to run advertisements in our paper. The rate is such that it basically covers our costs to produce and distribute the space. It’s that simple.

Now since we decided to charge for expanded obits, we felt we had to provide more to both the reader and families. When I say more, I don’t mean more newsprint or pages, but added value for what they are purchasing. Starting May 1, we will begin posting all obituaries, full paid and free, on our Web site, www.myjournalcourier.com. Up until now, we have only been putting basic information of the person and service information on our Web site. You can now read the entire obituary online. We will also start including on any paid obituary a service called Legacy. Legacy is a national Web site service that provides different additions to obituaries. The biggest piece is called a virtual Guest Book that will allow friends and families to post condolences and fond memories of the deceased for all to see. It is a very nice feature that many families have used to remember their loved ones all over the world! Newspapers like the London Times use the service. This will be included in the price.

We had an informational breakfast with area funeral home directors last week to introduce them to the new fees and procedures. It was a good meeting with most of them very understanding. They have been dealing with paid obituaries from other newspapers for years now and I guess to sum it up, they were kind of wondering when we would get around to it. It wasn’t a surprise to them, let’s put it that way. I know they weren’t jumping up and down in glee, but I think they felt it coming. These folks had a lot of great suggestions for us, based upon their experiences with other newspapers. We listened very closely and plan to adopt much of what they suggested.

To sum it up, this was not done to charge the dead (the government already does a good job at that) or make huge profits off the families. It is being done to cover our ever increasing costs and do so in a way that is fair to all concerned. We will not deny the readers the information on those who have passed or when you can honor them at the services. If the family, at their choosing, wants to document all that the life of the deceased meant to them, they have that choice. All we ask in return is a nominal fee to cover our costs to do so.

I would really like to hear your thoughts. Please consider leaving me a comment below. Thanks.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 11:13 am and is filed under Web site, community, newspaper. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.