PG’s print cuts worry funeral directors

August 14, 2018 Off By Eric O'Brien

The Tribune-Review reports that a letter sent to funeral directors by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this week, stated that the two days per week that the longtime paper intends to drop from their printing schedule are Tuesdays and Saturdays. The PG announced the change earlier this summer as a way to cut costs and focus more on the digital format.

One funeral director told the Tribune-Review that about 20 percent of his clients decline a newspaper obituary, citing that they prefer to use social media and funeral home websites for information on visiting hours and funeral times. And, if they do run a newspaper obituary, it tends to run for just one day rather than two or three as was done years ago. Other directors said it is too soon to speculate on how the changes will affect their work, but admit that it would likely complicate the process to have fewer print days.