Newspaper Obituaries Attract Readership and Revenue

In an industry that some claim is dying, newspapers continue to rely on deaths to attract readers.

As Armando Acuña points out in the Sacramento Bee (free registration required), obituaries remain heavily read both online and in print. And the business aspects of death – particularly paid obituaries and online postings – remain important opportunities for newspapers:

While online sites such as craigslist have siphoned away lucrative classified advertising dollars from newspapers in several categories such as help-wanted ads, newspapers seem to have gotten a clue when it comes to obits.

They are not letting an opportunity to build on an historic strength slip by as they did with early online competitors.

They are using print and the Internet to fight back and grow revenue and an audience. It is a rare bright spot in an otherwise bleak outlook. Looking at it as an optimist, it may offer a how-to guide for similar endeavors with other topics that attract intense local interest.

Acuña mentions the Bee’s partnership with legacy.com, which offers online guestbooks and other services, as a way the newspaper has extended its obituary capabilities.

Joe Wikert noted that this dominance may stem from older audiences being stronger newspaper readers combined with the lack of a true online competitor. Newspapers will almost certainly face new threats in this area as Web 2.0, social networking and online communities continue to grow.