Boone County and Northern Kentucky is a caring and loving community where we all celebrate births and mourn deaths together. Many of us, especially older people, keep a watchful eye on the obituary section so we can pass on our condolences to the friends and family of loved ones who have passed away.
Recently, I had a family member pass away and was responsible for funeral arrangements. My sister wrote a beautiful obituary, which my family asked that I have published in the paper. I contacted the Cincinnati Enquirer to have it printed and was shocked to learn it would cost over $1,000. I spoke to people I know in the newspaper industry who told me how things had changed. They informed me daily papers were struggling to make ends meet and began utilizing obituaries’ inclusion in newspapers as a revenue source some years ago.
Charging over $1,000 for a small obituary makes this cost-prohibitive for many families, which is a loss for our community. I am disappointed by the Enquirer, and I also believe it does a poor job covering the community and Frankfort news.
Fortunately for northern Kentucky, I recently discovered an outstanding online publication, the non-profit Northern Kentucky Tribune, that still publishes obituaries free of charge in its online newspaper.
Thank you to the Northern Kentucky Tribune for providing this great service to our community.
While I am talking about the Tribune, they also do a great job covering local news, politics, and school news, highlighting young people’s accomplishments and all the great things a community newspaper does. I love print media, but the Enquirer has been a big disappointment. Since the closing of the Boone County Recorder, there has been a real void in community news. The Tribune is trying to fill that void. Let’s all support them.
Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, represents the 11th Senate District in northern and central Boone County. He is Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee chair. He also serves as a Senate Banking and Insurance, Judiciary, and Natural Resources and Energy committee member.
Editor’s Note: Our thanks to Sen. Schickel for his kindness in recognizing the importance of obituaries provided free at the NKyTribune, a nonprofit public service newspaper serving the NKY region. We believe that obituaries are news and that everyone deserves to be recognized at the end of life. We also believe that the news should, in general, be free to every citizen so that those citizens can be informed and engaged in the community. Joining with us in providing free, honest news and free obituaries are the corporate citizens and foundations recognized on our pages. Please join us in thanking them for making free access available to all. Readers, too, may make voluntary, tax-deductible contributions to support our efforts.
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Of all the things to be disappointed about in NKY, I cannot believe you chose the Cincinnati Enquirer. If you read the NKY Tribune, then you know one bigger issue is our judiciary and compromised courts. Let’s put some time and energy into that issue that negatively affects so many across all the courts. We can do better.
I second that emotion
Reading nkytribune.com is like breathing fresh air.
The publication Team are top notch!
I take every opportunity to use the companies that advertise on this news outlet/community hub.
Thank you Judy for all of your hard work!