As you probably know, newspaper subscriptions have fallen faster than raindrops from a cloudburst in the years since daily Internet usage began spreading to the masses.
But, like me, you probably know several people who still subscribe to their local newspaper just so they’ll be able to read the obituaries.
In fact, you might even keep renewing your own subscription for that very reason.
If so, you should know there’s a very easy way to “subscribe” to your local paper’s “Obituaries” section without having to subscribe to the entire paper.
And best of all, it’s absolutely free!
Here’s the secret…
Most newspapers now allow you to sign up to receive their obituaries in your email, and most of them will send them to you at no charge.
All you need to do is visit the paper’s website and look for a “Newsletters” link.
These links are often worded a little differently from paper to paper, but they will typically be labeled similar to one of the following:
- Newsletters
- Sign up for our Newsletters
- Sign up for email updates
Regardless of which format your paper’s website uses for that link, just find it and click on it. That’ll take you to the page hawking their newsletters.
Once you find the page containing the various newsletter offerings you’re sure to find one just for the obituaries.
Simply check that box, enter your email address and then click the “Sign Up” or “Subscribe” button!
And now, one last thing…
There’s another great alternative that many papers offer that doesn’t require a subscription of any kind. Simply look for a link on the website labeled “Obituaries”.
That’s right, many newspapers post the obits right on the website. Just click the link and there they are.
By now you’re probably wondering why a paper would be willing to give away info like this for free instead of requiring you to subscribe.
After all, the viability of their business depends on bringing in cash, right?
Well, truth be told, the papers that have successfully made the transition from print to the web are doing just fine due to the advertising revenue they earn from the digital ads they post on their websites and in their newsletters.
And by the way, those obits they post aren’t free to the families of the deceased. They have to pay the paper to publish them, and the rates aren’t cheap.
In order to justify the high fees they charge for publishing those obituaries (which are basically “ads” if you think about it), the paper needs to get as many people to read them as possible. Hence their willingness to let you read them for free.
Sadly, the papers that haven’t been able to navigate the waters of the Internet era have either already shut down or will eventually do so.
As they say, the writing is on the wall.
Bottom line: If you’re still paying big bucks for a subscription to your local paper just so you can read the obituaries every morning, you can cancel your subscription and save that cash now that you know you can read the daily obituaries online for free!
To finish up, here’s an interesting short video discussing both the past and the future of printed newspapers. Check it out!
Note: As always, you can watch the video at full screen by clicking the “square” icon that will pop up in the lower-right corner of the video after it begins playing.