When Jim Lindblad’s mother, Janet Scott Lindblad, died back in June, he thought it would be nice to have an obituary run in the Star-Advertiser. Although her adult life had been spent on the mainland, Janet spent her teen years in Hawaii, graduated in the Roosevelt High School Class of 1945, and retained lifelong emotional ties to the islands. Her son, Jim Lindblad, has lived in Honolulu for over three decades, and I’ve known him much of that time.
So Jim wrote up a narrative and asked the newspaper how much it would cost to publish on a Sunday. The answer: $1770.95. After a revision and a slight reduction in size, the amount dropped to “just” $1,522.26.
The quote was $95 per column inch, plus an additional $50 for the online version, and yet another $50 for a color photo.
Jim’s comment to me: “We paid far less than this to have the body cremated, and the company picked her up from her rest home and needed to store her for a week while we waited for the death certificate.”
“I find it difficult to believe the people I read about whose loved ones died are paying this kind of money for a smallish ad type obituary,” Jim said.
Welcome to the monopoly newspaper.
Jim declined to run the ad at that price.
“I decided my mother would not approve of me spending the $1500 or $1000 or even $500 were she here to help me,” he said later.
The bad thing, for the newspaper at least, is that it is taking advantage of families at their most vulnerable, and they don’t tend to come away with warm and fuzzy feelings towards the newspaper. Many are probably angry, as Jim was, about what appears to be an exorbitant price structure. And now that most classifieds have migrated to Craigslist and other online venues, this is one of the few direct interactions people are likely to have with the newspaper. Wouldn’t you want it to be perceived and remembered positively?
Yes, a free, bare-bones death announcement is available, but it’s not a satisfying memorial for a loved one.
Anyway, at the end of this exchange with Jim, I asked if he would like me to publish what he wrote about his mom. It will be indexed by Google, so other people will be able to find it. Jim agreed, so it appeared this morning as a separate item.
Jim and I would both be interested in hearing your thoughts about how obituaries would be handled in an ideal world, and what real-world alternatives there are today.
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Maybe free or steep discount for subscribers? Not sure whether that’s a facetious suggestion or not . . .
That is ridiculous. When my mother died in 2001, we ran obits in two out-of-town papers, and I think the total cost was maybe $400 total – and they weren’t that short. (I know cause I wrote ’em.) I think that’s plenty high – so this charge is just ludicrous. I know the cost of living is higher in the islands, but still…
Totally agree; and the reason for the high cost on the island, is because that service is imported. Where is the reason for this over the top cost, other than greed and taking advantage of family members time of grief.
This is one of those more subtle reasons why Civil Beat should have advertising. In fact, even if they did not charge for advertising they should have advertising. Advertising is a public service.
A lot of people have a very simplistic, puritanical attitude toward advertising. In their minds, “advertising = prostitution”. One of the major purposes of education is to break apart these sort of emotional, automatic associations.What about craigslist? They provide free advertising. Is that so wrong?
It could be argued that advertising is part of the natural trade craft of journalism, along with photography. Advertising could in fact be seen as part of the mission of journalism, as the public forum and the public bazaar are connected. Obituaries in particular should be provided as a public service by the paper. (I am surprised that obituaries are not a part of craigslist by now….) I hope that CB can provide an obituary column.
Ian, I believe you discovered another excellent use for the Internet. An “in memoriam” site for the state with user contributed bios and proper indexing. The only thing that would last with the newspaper article would its online version anyway.
I see the online versions that Google finds are the short obituaries, the death notices. The current day’s paid obits are there, but it seems they disappear. I’m not certain of that, but that’s what my quick search revealed.
In which case one’s on-line money doesn’t buy much.
I think the key here is the monopoly the SA has locally. Unfortunately I don’t think we can support two papers here, so we are saddled with a monopoly.
I am selling a used car and called about a special the SA had on ads. Two lines for 3 weeks – almost $300! The cheapest ad they had was $75 for ONE day. Way too much money.
Thanks for posting the obit here.
– Kevin
Craig’s List works better anyway…and it’s free.
I think HEI charges too much for electricity and the gas prices in Hawaii are way too high…..but I have to pay. No other choice. This site goes on at length about the multitude of options of where to get the news but often plays the M word when it fits their point. It’s simple. You don’t have to buy it. The funeral home sends the regular obit notices to the paper and it’s free. I think the funeral home charged $25 but I can’t remember. The Honolulu Advertiser charged the same rate for these special obits when they were in business. So, where’s the beef?
You can also paint a memorial on the back window of a pickup truck.
I love this comment. But I don’t like back-window memorials, because they obstruct the driver’s vision. We’re so used to all kinds of crap inside of the car, stuffed animals, stickers, etc. that we forget about safety.
I have to agree with Hypo. I placed a very nice obit for my mother in 2008 with the Advertiser and I paid around the same amount as quoted above at what is now the SA. Guess folks didn’t know it was always that much even when we had two papers. I remember the SB price was less but their printing was terrible.
we just got the new rate sheet for legal notices. it’s quiet expensive. up about 66% the best we can tell. since most of that advertising is really just gov’t (either directly or via consultants), i’d have to think that the state should start running a public notice website and strike from the law the requirement to run things in a paper of daily circulation. it’s pretty out dated. and getting too expensive. if the purpose is public disclosure, there are way cheaper ways to get info out in this day and age.
It’s a free country. SA has the right to do stupid things, and boy do they seem to take advantage of that right a lot.
Instead of a printed obit, someone could charge $500 for a freely hosted website, or a youtube page. Much better, searchable, permanent, and a fuller experience. No legislation required.
yeah…..let’s pass a law banning what appear to be high rates. Hawaiian Airlines reportedly made 57 million dollars last year for bag fees and change fees…..not a whimper. But wholly God the local newspaper makes some extra profit lets pass a law to stop those bastards…..give me a break.
I had exactly the same experience with the vultures when my mother died In November.Our ” home town” paper in Needam Mass. ran a lovley obit notice and photo of my mother, who visited Hawaii often over the past near 50 years. I think the only thing certain about the SA is that it is determined to wring every dime it can out of our community from the living and the dead.
Actually, Hawaiian Airlines is far more a monopoly than the SA when you think about it. It cost me last week $350 to fly to Kona! They raised the bag fees again last month and you are right….where’s the outcry?
The mortuary sent obituaries re my inlaws to the 2 local papers for “free.” We were not charged an extra fee for this service.