Jonathan McNiven
Well, folks, I’m writing to inform the masses and especially our valued, loyal readers and residents of Yellowstone County of our options for obituaries due to some of the comments, concerns and feedback we’ve gotten from funeral homes and the general consumers (You, the public) in regards to obituaries that are published in the Billings Gazette.
As the Billings Gazette has made changes over the last years and especially the last months, we have been asked to provide a solution to a need that keeps reappearing in conversations and public dialogue for obituaries.
I’ve had a number of people ask us about providing online obituaries due to the cost that the Gazette is charging, so we have evaluated our options for obituary submissions to our paper to better serve the public and masses so here are the reasons we’ve decided to make the added changes and options for the people.
First off, I understand that the Billings Gazette has to always evaluate their prices and options as we do, and they have to make business decisions from a business standpoint, so I understand that change as I am a business owner myself.
But first, here is a general obituary comparison to the Gazette and Yellowstone County News in price. We charge $35 for a general obituary that includes a picture. The Gazette charges $35 PER COLUMN INCH and an additional $10 for a picture.
Here are some of the recent changes the Gazette has recently made that affect funeral homes and you the consumer.
According to the Last Best News article that was published on February 7, 2018, it stated that “Lee Enterprises recently implemented another round of staff cuts at its Montana Newspapers, including the Billings Gazette.” In the article, it stated that employees and staff were laid off due to different reasons to meet business needs. The article also referenced cuts and changes in wake of yet another hefty increase in subscriptions. It also referenced significant changes to its circulation policies and drawing in the boundaries of its home delivery option which could be put in place this spring sometime.
Among other changes of decline in the article, it stated that “Lee Enterprises submitted a notification with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development stating that it would close two customer call centers in Indiana” that took effect March 30 that affected 93 employees. Finally, according to a source for Last Best News, “the company is moving the jobs to Ohio and Mexico”.
However, that statement could not be confirmed by Last Best News in their article so we’ll wait for an update. I reached out to Ed Kimmick, Editor/Publisher of Last Best News, to confirm that statement. He returned my call, but was unable to confirm the call center relocating to Ohio or Mexico.
The reason I bring up the changes to the Gazette is due to the changes in support and publishing for obituaries now.
Yellowstone County News also learned the Obituary and Classifieds department at the Billings Gazette have merged together. Area funeral homes were notified in a letter on March 7 by Ryan Brosseau, Advertising Director of the Billings Gazette, of additional “Gallery investment” charge of $15 or $25 on top of a $10 charge for photos going forward. This change is on top of the high charge for an obituary already for the Gazette.
Finally, the part that affects funeral homes and consumers is that if an obituary is not submitted to the Gazette by 3pm on Friday, It WILL NOT be in the newspaper on Saturday, Sunday or Monday. The next time it can appear in the Billings Gazette is Tuesday which affects funeral homes and consumers and funeral services in general.
In my opinion, not only are the service and options declining that the Gazette is providing, the financial cost to families and loved ones continues through the roof. Families and loved ones are only trying to get notices and information out to the people in an easy, timely, and affordable way. For that reason, Yellowstone County News is providing our online option for obituaries in addition to publishing obituaries in our weekly local newspaper in Yellowstone County. Now, I’m not here to “Bash” the Gazette in my article but to formulate why we’re providing an easy, affordable, and timely solution to a need that is out there.
So to keep it simple, we charge a FLAT $20 for the obituary on our website (no matter the length and that also includes a picture.) Email your obituary with your contact info to obits@yellowstonecountynews.com and we’ll get it up online the same day (even on the weekends) or your obituary is FREE! We’ll also follow up for a payment with you. The obituary you submit to Yellowstone County News will also be linked online on our Billings Funeral Services Facebook group. You can go to www.billingsfuneralservices.com website and see all the obituaries we have up there at this time or also find them at www.yellowstonecountynews.com.
I hope that you will help me pass the news around of our options for easy, affordable and timely obituary submissions online and in our paper.
In the meantime, I’ve got to go prepare for the upcoming GOP Primary debate/Forum that I’m moderating.
Until then, see you in the Paper!
JDM
