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Letter to the editor

Times to begin charging for obituaries

By TIMES STAFF
Published July 1, 2007

The St. Petersburg Times will publish obituaries in a new format next week.

Starting July 9, families will write their own obituaries and will be able to purchase an online guest book.

In the paper, the first seven lines of the death notice will be free; readers may choose to write longer obituaries, but they will now be charged for those additional lines.

The new format means most obituaries will become a function of the paper's advertising department, rather than its newsroom. Families will have full control of the content, including survivors and funeral arrangements. Currently, families must buy a paid notice to announce funeral arrangements.

"We see this as a win-win model, " managing editor Stephen Buckley said. "Readers will now be able to say whatever they want, within the bounds of good taste, and we'll have a new stream of revenue during these challenging economic times."

The Times is among the last major metropolitan newspapers to move in this direction.

Some features of the new format include:

- All obituaries will now run in the B section. Obituary pages will no longer appear in local regional sections.

- An online guest book powered by Legacy.com, which houses obituaries from 350 newspapers in the United States. Times obituaries will be available free online for 30 days.

- A new daily obituary feature, produced by one of our staff writers. The story will typically chronicle a particularly unusual or noteworthy life.

Once the new format is launched, the Times will publish an e-mail address and phone number for readers to provide feedback.

[Last modified June 30, 2007, 23:52:21]