2501 James St., Suite 100
Syracuse, NY 13206
315.434.8889 ext. 302
February 19, 2016
To: Funeral Directors of the greater Syracuse area
From: David Tyler, publisher of Eagle Newspapers
Re: New policies regarding obituaries
Dear Funeral Directors:
For many years, Eagle Newspapers has provided funeral homes and families of the deceased the service of publishing obituaries free of charge. As we do now, we have always valued the role of the obituary in informing the community about the passing of a local person, and celebrating that person’s life and achievements. Unfortunately, with continued increases in expenses and the financial pressures on our company, we are no longer able to provide this service free of charge.
In considering this change in policy, I’ve had conversations with publishers across the state and with the New York Press Association. It’s clear we are one of the few publishers remaining who offer this service free of charge. Many charge rates that I believe could be a hardship on families of the deceased. We very carefully considered these factors when determining our new policy on obituaries, and have instituted pricing that is not burdensome but does help cover some of the costs of this service.
Beginning with the editions of March 9, 2016, we will no longer accept unpaid obituaries. Pricing for obituaries will be as follows:
- $50.00 for a standard obituary of up to 250 words with photo
- 15 cents per word for words in excess of 250 words
- Rates will apply for each newspaper the obituary is published in, so if a family wishes to have the obituary run in two of our papers, rates would be doubled, and so on up to and including all six of our community newspapers.
- Death notices, which feature limited information including the name of deceased, date of birth, date of death, and name of the funeral home handling the arrangements, will continue to be free of charge.
These rates apply to the following publications: Eagle Bulletin, Baldwinsville Messenger, The Star-Review, Cazenovia Republican, Skaneateles Press, and the Eagle-Observer.
As usual, we will continue to make the process of submitting an obituary as simple as possible. Obituaries can be submitted in two ways:
- Through the online form at users can fill in all the appropriate information and it will be emailed directly to our editorial staff. The form has the ability to submit both death notices and paid obituaries. Payments can be made directly through the form, or funeral homes can choose to be contacted for payment or have the charges billed to a previously established account.
- Obituaries can be emailed to . Our staff will price out the obituary and contact you for payment prior to publication. Charges also can be applied to a previously established account.
We will make every effort to ensure that obituaries run as submitted, with the possible exception of minor edits for clarity of dates, spelling, etc.
If you are already an advertising customer of Eagle Newspapers, you may already have an established billing account. If you are not a customer and would like to establish an account, please contact Lisa Congdon in our billing department at 315.434.8889 ext. 303.
We look forward to continuing to serve your needs and to provide the communities we serve with valuable information about those that have passed. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at or at 315.434.8889 ext. 302.
Sincerely,
David Tyler
Publisher, Eagle News
Eagle Newspapers Obituary PolicyPage 1