Salem readers made their choice clear when asked if Salem Reporter should add obituaries.
By a significant margin, those emailing their thoughts support such a move.
Many of you reacted to an earlier Editor’s Note describing the possibility. We got far more comments than we expected, and that’s fine by us. We listen carefully to our readers to be sure we’re delivering the service Salem wants.
So, we’re going to proceed with implementing an obituary service. More details will be out soon, but let me share the comments.
For those who also commented on our work in general, thank you. Our team feels a big duty to the community to report fairly and accurately in a way you can trust. We are so glad to hear from readers that we’re hitting the right tone.
Now, let me get out of the way and you can “listen” to what your fellow Salemites had to say in recent days:
Leslie M: I am very much in favor of adding obituaries to The Reporter. It would provide a great service to the community on many levels. Some people may object to paying a fee but they probably don’t realize that a fee is customary. Go for it! And, thanks for thinking of it~
Alan S: I’d like them.
Mitch T: I support the publishing of obituaries and would suggest they be made available to all separately labeled
Joanne L: Yes, please include them!
Jean S: Yes, excellent idea. My elderly mom just passed away and the Statesman charged us a boatload of money to have her obituary printed. I recall when that paper used to post obituaries at no cost, and I consider their current excessive charges as a form of extortion on the grieving. Your idea to include obituaries as part of a set fee-which I’m assuming would be a reasonable one—would serve our community well, particularly those like us who have recently lost a loved one. By the way, we are so pleased with Salem Reporter in general and are grateful for your addition to our community, all at a fair price. You’ve included well-researched and interesting stories that may otherwise have been missed by Stalemates, and I appreciate your even-tempered political stance. Keep up the good work!
John W: I believe it would be a great addition to have obits. They have become so expensive in Statesman Journal that most people can’t afford to share the news of their loved one’s passing.
Laurel H: I would be interested in obituaries, but only if they weren’t the standard fare. I am tired of seeing things like “Tom went to be with the Lord” and “Sally enjoyed cooking”. I guess that is what people tend to say, but maybe they could be encouraged to be more creative and personal about the person’s life.
Randy F: Thank you for your excellent community paper. I am supportive of you including obituaries in the paper. This contributes to the community significance by honoring and elevating those outstanding people who have made personal and public contributions to bettering all of our lives. Obituaries are often inspirational and role-models for the readers.
Patricia P: Nope.
Kathleen L: Yes, I am totally in favor of adding obits to Salem Reporter. From the very beginning, I’ve always told my husband that the only thing Salem Reporter is missing is the obituaries!!! So mark me in favor of obits in the Salem Reporter!
Ron P: I think adding obituaries would be a great service to your readers.
Sarah S: I do miss reading the obits in the Statesman. I have no time to find them in their e-edition. Please do consider adding them!
Susan A: I would like to read obits in the Salem Reporter.
Kelly J: I think it would be a great idea to include obituaries and hope you decide to do so! Thanks for asking and considering it!
Sandra A: I would like to see you include obituaries in the Salem Reporter. My main reason is that I always read your paper before the Statesman Journal resulting in my missing folks who have passed. My age (81) is such that more and more frequently my friends are likely to have an obituary.
Keith B: I think your idea of including obituaries is a great idea. Many of my friends and colleagues comment that the only reason they subscribe to the Statesman Journal is for the obituaries since it has very little local news anymore. They have also commented how expensive it can be for families to put an obituary in the SJ.
Karen S: Yes; include them please.
Ruth J: They would be nice but I think an event calendar like you had at one time would be more useful!
Anne F: Yes, I would appreciate having access to area people’s obits on your site.
Rosa L: If Obituaries are OK then so too are Letters to the Editor? So miss those critiques in this era’s Statesman.
Susan W: I am glad to see that SR is considering publishing obituaries. Would these be written by staff rather than the family paying for space? There is a lot of history that can be shared, particularly about people whose family might not want to pay for an obituary. My husband’s family has been in Salem since the late 1800’s and we read the obituaries because we find so many connections. Even for people we don’t know it’s a way of honoring their lives.
Joan F: Absolutely add obituaries. What have you got to lose?
Deb T: It would be a good idea to have them for your readers. It will probably increase your circulation.
Kathryn L: Definitely add obituaries. I rely on the obituaries in the “other” Salem paper. I once in a while read of someone I know, or who is related to someone I know. It gives me the opportunity to contact a long-ago acquaintance. I have also discovered who was a driving force behind some local institution or tradition, by reading their obituary. I think you are correct that it gives a fuller, more complete picture of our community and the people who lived here, and contributed to it over the years.
Ron K: We would love it if you added obituaries! That would be one more feature that makes SR a truly local paper. (Are sports next?) Maybe it’s a sign of our ages, but if we read nothing else in the Statesman, it’s the obituaries, which the Statesman now only publishes three days a week at best. And even then, we’ve heard from other people that they are so expensive. So yes, bring them on!
Deleana B: Thank you for seeking community comment on whether or not to include obituaries in Salem Reporter. My husband and I have continuously subscribed to the Statesman Journal or its predecessors since we moved to Salem in 1971. We are now about to end our subscription to the SJ. It no longer really represents Salem well. You do that now. So, yes, we hope the Salem Reporter will add reporting on obituaries, and also weddings, etc. Please also add local weather (one service the SJ is still providing) and news reporting on Saturdays. Please accept the responsibility of doing all local reporting. No one else is doing that. The Gannet press has turned the SJ into a poor offshoot of USA today. Thank you for asking.
Carey A: Yes, yes, yes!! Please do consider adding obituaries to your news. It is one way that we stay connected to one another, by being made aware of the death of people we’ve known and loved. The rising cost of obituaries in the Statesman Journal has greatly reduce the number of obituaries that are printed. Not everyone can pay what the Statesman Journal charges so community members pass without the honor they are due and others miss the information and the chance to grieve and comfort their family members.
Marise M: Thank you for all you do in our fair city. I would really appreciate having obituaries in your content. It’s one of the best ways to get information about a person, and is especially helpful when doing genealogy research.
Susan H: I like the idea of running obituaries. I’d also like to offer a related idea, although it’s more of a recurring feature than a current service. A local cemetery-preservation group in San Antonio, Texas (where one of my sons lives) tweets mini-biographies of the people buried in the cemetery they care for. Usually, though not always, this is done as the individual gravesites are cleaned. The thing is, though, they aren’t necessarily historically important people whose life stories are told this way. The idea is to bring attention to the project, but also to bring attention to the stories literally buried in the cemetery.
Julie C: Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to comment on SR doing obituaries. I like the idea, and actually was just thinking it’s kind of sad that, as newspapers die, we readers don’t have the opportunity to know of our fellow community members’ deaths anymore. Or of memorial services. So – here’s a yes vote from this subscriber!
Jessica G: I think an obituary section would be a good addition to your content. It could enhance your relationship with the public etc. Also, if you could provide Obituaries for people of less means or even the homeless it could make a strong public interest impact.
Pat M: We all need your news site to prosper. Adding obituaries might increase subscriptions.
Robert K: I would like to have obituaries in the Salem Reporter. Thank you for considering this.
Suze H: I, as a researcher into ancestry and history, very much miss the standard obituaries that used to appear. Wanting one for my late husband, I contacted the Oregonian after his death and it was so expensive I had to “pass the hat” to pay for it. Please keep both these things in mind as you ponder this (possibly valuable) addition to your enterprise. Also, times being as they are, one can no longer publish too many hints as to where the deceased lived, as there are nowadays those who will try to figure out when the deceased’s premises will be empty so they can prowl it.
Pat G: Yes, please add obituaries to the Salem Reporter. I have heard that the obituaries in the Statesman Journal are very, very expensive. Some people no longer post them in the newspaper because of the cost.
Cesie S: I am a firm “yes.” I have been an avid reader of obituaries for many years (and, of course, my kids think that’s weird). I love reading about the lives of people, where we might have intersected, and what their family has determined is most important about that person’s life. So yes – bring on the obits. And thanks for considering adding them to the already excellent work you are doing.
Noreen B: Yes I would like to see obituaries and another addition would be what is being built in the Salem area. I see lots of conversations on Next Door with people trying to figure out what is being built in areas of Salem.
Paula C: A short response to encourage the addition of obits to the Salem Reporter. I subscribe to connect to this Salem community, and the loss of members is part of that.
Many thanks.
Jane T: I am strongly in favor of adding this feature to Salem Reporter. It’s very important to a community to know when it loses one of its members.
Fred S: As soon as you start to carry obituaries in the Salem Reporter we will drop our subscription to the S-J. The Salem Reporter is so good and getting better almost daily that I will just drop the S-J today. The evening addition is a great way for you to give us even more news, making it well worth the money. The Salem Reporter is great and getting better. Congratulations to you and your team!
Cathy C: I hope that there will be obituaries placed in the newspaper. I think we have let so many things go because of the times, this is part of our culture.
Sheryl D: I don’t think adding obituary information would improve the Salem Reporter, and indeed would detract from what I see as its value over the Statesman Journal reporting—your focus on hard news of concern to the community. But I expect it would generate more revenue for your publication, as many people do want to acknowledge the lives, loves and contributions of a deceased.
Ruth J: My answer to your question is yes. I know I would appreciate having access to this information. With the decline of printed obituaries I know I have missed the passing of people I would have liked to know about and remember. Thank you for asking.
Shellye H: Yes, please. I, for one, would welcome the inclusion of obituaries in Salem Reporter. Our family has not subscribed to a print newspaper for many, many years (that’s another story). It’s difficult for so many people to learn of local news (many are unfamiliar with online news availability) and for all the reasons you detailed, and more, obituaries are important to the local community. Count me as one ‘yes’ vote. And thank you for always keeping your local community in the forefront.
Craig H: Never once in life did I imagine writing a note to offer my two cents about whether or not obituaries should be printed in the local news “paper!” That you are asking the question and I am replying, it most certainly affirms the age bracket we are both in don’t you think?! In short, my answer is yes, go for it, provided it doesn’t subtract from anything else you now cover and report on. I still pay my $9.99/mo. to the S-J primarily primarily to get the obits. Perhaps a modest new revenue stream for you as well (small fee for publishing + additional subscribers)?
Kyle J: Yes, to bits! They capture one person’s life; they inspire others to be better people. I found it interesting that one of the teaser articles next to your request for comments was about “Demise of Medford paper…” Sadly, it looks like you’re already running obits.
Barbara M: Hurrah! I hope you at least give this a try and I’m sure that your flat fee will be more reasonable than the Gannett papers which, I’m sure you know, treat obits the same as an ad and is extremely expensive. There is enough to worry about with the loss of a love one, and enough expenses involved as well. Many people just don’t do one. We learn so much about the person – even if they have been a long-time friend.
Jane A: I gave up the Statesman after 54 years and switched to the Salem Reporter. To me, it has more interesting and in-depth Salem news. I only kept the Statesman online for the obituaries. I would appreciate the addition.
Hal S: Yes, do it. Just last week I searched out several people I grew up with and discovered many had died. It was interesting to connect my memory of them with the information contained in the obituary. Personally, I want to know the manner of death. Is that something you can add if the family does not provide it? The manner of death tells us something about our culture and the life of the person. For example, is someone is killed in a car crash caused by a drunk driver this should not be reported as a “car accident”. Vehicular assault might be more accurate. If someone is killed by the police that would be of interest but then of course, was it deemed to be justified or not? With young people especially, I always wonder if they committed suicide and if so how, or perhaps was it a drug overdose? That begats the “why” if one does not know them but is interested in the culture aspect. Finally, the most comforting manner of death is when it is reported the deceased died peacefully in their sleep. Thanks for asking the readers! That is wisdom!
Benny B: Good morning. I strongly support the additional “feature” of having access to obituaries. Some restraint/ limits must be established because of potential abuse. Extra-long offerings could turn into “mini novels”. Too many pics could over whelm reality. An old adage says “I can’t preach you into heaven.” Nor can an obituary.
Jim S: The SJ has lots of obituaries. I would not read more of them. Instead of obituaries what we really need are carefully selected or invited Guest Opinions in the Salem Reporter. Salem is an “opinion desert”!
Ann N: I vote yes to adding obits. You provide such a valuable service to our community. Adding the obits would be one more. I think a lot of people don’t submit obits to the S-J because of cost or seeming irrelevance. If your service is low cost it would be great.
Sharon Z: Yes to obituaries.
Peter F: I support adding obits to the Salem Reporter. I think it would provide a great public service in whatever format it is presented.
Jeff S: I’m a big fan of obituaries, but typically those which I enjoy the most are written by a reporter (or another person who happens to be somewhat objective when describing the deceased). I am not a big fan of obits written by family members as they often just give cursory information about the deceased. I would rather read about a person’s interesting traits or accomplishments – good and bad – than just a recital of their excellent qualities. Thanks for soliciting reader comments on this issue.
Judy P: Yes as so many no longer use the regular paper or take the time to go on line to the Statesman to check it.
George J: If it is profitable and does not clutter the “headlines.” Then it would seem that there is no down side would provide a present and future source for some historical content. (this does not suggest that subscriber written obits are objective nor that they provide an accurate historical picture)
Denise W: Yes to obituaries, especially since I’m on the other side of a ‘life well lived’!
Paul W: I think it would be a great idea for you to include obituaries in your content. Having lost 2 brothers in the last 6 months, my family has experienced the cost in the print media. $200 plus in the Statesman and $700 in the Oregonian. Now that I am old, I read the Obituaries daily to keep up on classmates and friends. Because of the cost, the legacy left behind by some people can’t be shared with the rest of the community. It would be a great benefit to your readers and should add to your income stream. Good luck and keep up the good work.
Bonnie H: Please add obituaries. As a researcher they are key tools and often tell a story of time and place in a different way than news stories do. And everyone reads them. If you ran obits there would be no need to look at the SJ daily.
Jerolyn N: Add them.
Jane B: As my mother grew older, she really appreciated the ability to read about old friends and acquaintances in the obituaries and go to the funerals of those that she new family members from. I know she would appreciate being able to read obituaries. Again, thank you for considering that.
Ken S: I strongly support the addition of obituaries to the Salem Reporter.
Mary S: Yes, I agree obituaries are important at many levels. I believe it is a wise decision to add them to your very informative news option. Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Robin C: Yes to obituaries! Definitely.
Alma W: I love the idea of adding an obituary section. My grandma just passed away this week so this is at the top of my mind right now. She was a leading figure in the creation of bilingual education programs in Salem-Keizer and worked for the school district for decades. We’re trying to reach as many of her former students as possible because she was beloved by all of them. I went to the Salem Reporter’s website to see if there already was an obituary section that maybe I’d missed before. All that to say, I think adding an obituary section is a great idea. And it could spark some culture stories. There are lots of interesting folks in this community!
Jim E: Some obits tell a story that could be shared.
Cornelia P: I think it’s a great idea to add obituaries. I typically draw a distinction between the ‘death/funeral announcement’ which simply lists the details and the actual obituary which gives an insight into the person’s life. Some are written before the person passed–and they are fascinating because they help us see what they valued in their lives. Others are written as letters from the family to the deceased–and these too show us what the family valued.
Paul S: Yes, compile obituaries. For older folks, the obituary is the only reason they continue to subscribe to the Statesman Journal.
Contact Editor Les Zaitz by email: [email protected].
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