Death Notice Rip Off - the cost of putting them in the local paper.

[maggie007 10]

is that rip off or R.I.P off

[sheffgrow 10]

who on earth reads the star nowadays anyway?

what an absolute load of crap that rag is

[samshe 10]

Unbelievable!!! ... don't think I'd want to receive news of a bereavement by email or text!

 

 

 

I am guessing then that you are of an older generation.

 

I never read local newspapers and only read national newspapers when on public transport. The two most recent deaths that have effected me (both of them friends) I have learnt about via facebook. This may seem alien to older people, but is it really any less personal than a message in a shabby newspaper like the star??

 

Both funeral arrangements were spread on facebook, allowing everyone who cared for the people to be involved in a way that wasn't possible before social networking. As said above it is only the current older generation who will post notices like this really, if I die at an old age (im 25 now) I VERY much doubt that the death of myself or my peers will be communicated by the printed word.

 

Condolences for your loss OP. My mother died some years back and we were charged from every direction, it can come as a real surprise.

[1978 14]

Many older people read The Star and the older they get the more they read the obituaries. My father used to work out the average ages of death until he got over that figure! They want to know who they know is no longer with us. SF and Facebook don't do that in the same way.

 

I'd not looked at them recently. I'm amazed to see how many column inches they take up. Some poor souls must have been talked into lengthy eulogies as well as roses. No wonder we don't get much real news - this is it!

 

I do find the internet service useful. I've just tracked down why I didn't get a Christmas card from an old friend in Newcastle - the Newcastle Journal records his death on 30th December 2010. I note their records are much less verbose and flowery than the Sheffield Star's!

[SUPERDREAM 10]

Im really not going off topic with this, and I and truly sad for your loss, but the Sheffield Star has really had its day. There was a time when in was full of proper news from Sheffield and other snippets that were of some interest, the job pages were bursting on a thursday and the kids looked forward to a packed Junior Star to get their tickets for the regular Junior Star disco at Roxys. Oh my life, that paper is soooo boring now, ive honestly given up buying it. The staff can whinge about how the management need to be told about complaints etc, but they dont give a crap. They make their money selling ads about "Any Credit Cars" and massage parlours, and in keeping with this, they have forgotten the REAL meaning of the paper. It was for us locals, to announce our weddings, birthdays and sad losses, and tell us news of local heroes and local jumble sales but now its just a bland local rag. Im not sorry for my words, just glad im not forced to buy it it by Sheffield Council.

[Jim Hardie 517]

The price of the notice does includes the £20.

 

This is a PR disaster. The Star should just say:

The minimum charge for a death notice is £20 and then so much per line. By the way there is a rose symbol included, do you have a colour preference?

You don't want the rose? That's fine sir/madam.

Trouble is the Star seems to employ idiots.

[cuttsie 1,089]

Im really not going off topic with this, and I and truly sad for your loss, but the Sheffield Star has really had its day. There was a time when in was full of proper news from Sheffield and other snippets that were of some interest, the job pages were bursting on a thursday and the kids looked forward to a packed Junior Star to get their tickets for the regular Junior Star disco at Roxys. Oh my life, that paper is soooo boring now, Ive honestly given up buying it. The staff can whinge about how the management need to be told about complaints etc, but they dont give a crap. They make their money selling ads about "Any Credit Cars" and massage parlours, and in keeping with this, they have forgotten the REAL meaning of the paper. It was for us locals, to announce our weddings, birthdays and sad losses, and tell us news of local heroes and local jumble sales but now its just a bland local rag. Im not sorry for my words, just glad im not forced to buy it it by Sheffield Council.

I have bought the star for over fifty years and now it is an expensive rip off.

On top of that they have now made it just another morning paper with little content.

In its heyday there would be Que of people waiting outside the newsagents to get the late night final, On top of that hundreds of lads and lasses throughout Sheffield would be delivering it to thousands of homes this provided the kids with spending money and gave them a work ethic that never left them

Its another Sheffield tradition that has now vanished due to the greed of the publishers.

Edited January 12, 2012 by cuttsie

[jen16267 10]

when my dad died 10 years ago we had the same problem. My mum kicked up such a fuss that they gave in and let us have the notice without the "rose" or cabbage as my mum called it.She insisted in talking to the manager of the dept.

[Jim Hardie 517]

I have bought the star for over fifty years and now it is an expensive rip off.

On top of that they have now made it just another morning paper with little content.

In its heyday there would bea Que of people waiting outside the newsagents to get the late night final, On top of that hundreds of lads and lasses throughout Sheffield would be delivering it to thousands of homes this provided the kids with spending money and gave them a work ethic that never left them

Its another Sheffield tradition that has now vanished due to the greed of the publishers.

 

Paper rounds were highly prized among the kids I went to school with. These days our Star is delivered by a bloke in a car. No wonder it's 47p a pop.

[Juanjo 10]

You lot really don't like the Star do you?

Three pages and only one positive comment as the usual rubbish gets spouted - "spelling and grammar" is a common complaint about newspapers, but with no substance.

 

My personal favourite in this thread was the comment about the Star making money out of people at their most vulnerable. So what about florists who open up near cemeteries, funeral directors, WI cafes at hospitals etc? Death is big business.

[Darth Vader 10]

The last time our family put notices in this section, it came to over £100, if I recall correctly, and, again, if I recall correctly, there was an offer on at that time that you could advertise your car for the whole week for something a lot more realistic, - I think it was for a fiver!

 

I told my family when I kipper it, just put an ad in the cars for sale section -

 

1 old banger, non-runner, suitable for scrap. Contact Darth Vader via your local medium.

 

Sorry, that's crass - but if The Star can do ads so cheaply for a week, it begs the question of why they charge grieving families so much.

[spartacus 10]

Years ago, in more honourable times, when a funeral was announced, for obvious reasons it was de rigeur to place a notice in "The Star".

 

"The Star" in those days was a respected and responsible communicator of regional issues.

 

For a local newspaper to SUBSTANTIALLY profit from the misfortune, indeed misery, of its readership is unacceptable.