Readership Institute: Obituary Best Practices Gallery

The Impact Study showed that improving obituaries is one of the most effective ways that newspapers can increase readership. Here are some examples of how this can be done. Click on the images in this gallery to view larger versions of them in a new window.

		The Modesto Bee provides examples of many high-satisfaction practices. This complete list of area deaths that appears on Page A2 as part of the news roundup, is one such practice. Other newspapers include the death list as part of the Page 1 index.
		Publishing obituaries by region instead of alphabetical order is popular with readers in many areas. The Modesto Bee compromises by publishing the actual obituaries in alpha order, while providing this list of deaths by county on the same page.
		The Modesto Bee leads every obituary page with a longer "story obituary" about an ordinary person, followed by shorter obituaries. Note the geographical list of deaths in the upper right.
		Note the Modesto Bee's tombstone-like practice of including birth and death dates immediately under the name of the deceased. Families who save obituaries like this.
		The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides a free basic obituary to anyone born or living in Georgia, arranged geographically, and writes two longer "story obituaries" each day about interesting people. Obituary editor Kay Powell emphasizes that "important does not necessarily equate to interesting."
		Obituaries are "ordinary people" stories in disguise. The best of them, like this one from the Point Reyes Light in California, celebrate the deceased's life, quirks and all.
		Even the New York Times, famous for its well-written obituaries of important persons, occasionally includes extensive obituaries of ordinary people, such as this one.
		Another example showing there are fascinating stories to tell about the lives of quite ordinary people, this one from the Chicago Tribune.
		Another practice of high-satisfaction newspapers is publishing a daily list of funerals in addition to obituaries. This example is from the Johnstown, PA Tribune-Democrat.
		Here's another example from the Point Reyes Light that demonstrates how engaging a colorful, warts-and-all portrait can be.
		It doesn't take great deeds to make a great person, as this obituary of a quite ordinary, but kindly person in the Johnstown, PA, Tribune-Democrat shows.
		When an ordinary person touches a lot of lives, it's often worth displaying the obituary on Page 1, as the Concord Monitor did with this top-of-page story about the passing of a local school librarian.
		The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader pays great attention to detail in the formatting and typography of its obituaries, making them particularly attractive. They are set in standard column width using standard body type, and each leads off with a dropped-capital initial. Name of the deceased and date of death are centered headlines above the text, creating white space and a sense of airiness. The overall visual impact is one of dignity and respect.

"To touch her was to love her"
Here's proof that the deceased doesn't have to be old, honored and famous to create a compelling obituary that makes an emotional connection with the reader. This obituary of a nine-month-old also clearly shows that everyone does, indeed, have a story. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ran this obituary on Page 1 above the fold. We show you the version that ran on their Web site the same day.

"Patricia Sparks, cyclist, runner, gave life her all"
The Arizona Republic finds interesting lives to write about for its featured daily obituary by asking its readers to suggest the subjects. This feature, called A Life Remembered, is presented as a celebration of the lives of interesting people, so lifts the normal news stricture on timeliness. The example here - the Web version - was published about two weeks after the death. Each daily reminiscence concludes with contact information at the Republic for those interested in submitting names for consideration.