As one who’s written quite a few obituaries and placed them on
pages, I offer this response to Debi Mahler’s letter of Nov. 25
(
”
Put obituaries on page two
”
).
Since consistency is a hallmark of any good newspaper,
obituaries should indeed start on the same page every day. Readers
grow accustomed to looking in certain places for certain news, and
it’s a mistake to force them to scan pages to find something that’s
traditionally been in the same place.
As one who’s written quite a few obituaries and placed them on pages, I offer this response to Debi Mahler’s letter of Nov. 25 (“Put obituaries on page two”).
Since consistency is a hallmark of any good newspaper, obituaries should indeed start on the same page every day. Readers grow accustomed to looking in certain places for certain news, and it’s a mistake to force them to scan pages to find something that’s traditionally been in the same place.
However, it’s unrealistic to ask that obituaries be confined to any one page, since the available space on a given page (the “news hole” in newsroom parlance) depends on the number and size of ads on that page. If there’s too much news to fit in the “news hole,” it must “jump” to another page.
Note, too, the use of the word “news” to apply to obituaries. Many people seem to be under the impression that they’re a public service, while others seem to think obituaries are paid items and therefore entitled to special consideration. Neither is true. They appear in the newspaper primarily to provide information about services, etc. to those interested. In the Free Lance, as well as some other newspapers, this information is provided free of charge, but many others charge for it.
I, too, implore the Free Lance to return obituaries to page A2, in consideration of the readers. I also implore readers to understand that the obituarist, while taking care that all information is correct, is dependent on information supplied by the funeral home, which in turn is dependent on information supplied – mostly from memory – by the family of the deceased. Errors in this information are rarely apparent to the writer, so if one appears in the paper, it’s generally something that he or she would not have thought to verify. Please consider this before shooting the messenger.
Dave Moseley,
Hollister
