Newspaper Death Notices May Be a Dying Business

Hugh Pickens writes "Alan D. Mutter writes in his journalism blog 'Reflections of a Newsosaur' that some newspapers exploit bereaved families with exorbitantly priced death notices — a distasteful and strategically inept way for them to try to make ends meet. 'I stumbled across the problem this week when I tried to buy a death notice in ... the San Francisco Chronicle, which proposed charging $450 for the one-day run of a crappy-looking, 182-word death notice,' writes Mutter. But lose the death notice business, and newspapers risk losing a huge audience driver as well. The solution may be partnering with websites like Legacy.com, a site that already publishes death notices for about two-thirds of the people who die each day in the US. 'It may not be easy to figure out the terms of a broader collaboration, writes Rich Gordon on Poynter.org, 'partly because some newspaper executives are wary of Legacy and feel the company could become a competitive threat for audiences and revenue. But this is exactly the reaction many newspaper executives had to collaborating with Internet companies in other classified advertising categories. I'd hate to see newspapers make the same mistake with death notices and obituaries.'"

Comments

Re:Why publish a death notice?

[Anonymous Coward]

A coffin can easily cost as much as a car. I had to help pick one out once for a friend.
They had one 'cheapo' model for $995 that was barely a step up from a wooden box. The rest of the 30 coffin models they had ranged from $3995 to $21,995. Only two models were under $5,000 and they only came in white or brown.
Add in the cost for the cement tomb most cemeteries require around a coffin now ($1500), mortuary expenses of $1200 and various other fees for the death certificate and copies, etc...
You feel better to hear the cemetery plot is only about $500 for a 4'x7' piece of land, until you realize thats $777,857 an acre.
Add in the cost of the actual funeral and you can easily spend $15,000 or more just to die.
Flip side - cremation is still a bargain at $525 plus $50 for the death certificate.

Re:They're not alone either

[shovas]

I could be wrong, but I swear I've heard of bereavement discounts. A quick google seems to confirm it is usually a discount. Perhaps they were offering you a business or first class ticket thinking you wanted to be nice to your relative.