Earlier Press & Sun-Bulletin Obit Deadlines to Create Challenges

Funeral directors in the Binghamton area are expressing frustration about the latest changes being made to newspaper obituary policies.

The Press & Sun-Bulletin has advised local funeral homes that earlier deadlines will be implemented for death notices in the paper.

According to a Gannett email, the deadline changes are scheduled to take effect on April.

The unsigned email - attributed to the newspaper's "obituary team" - cited "unforeseen circumstances with a press schedule." The note said the deadlines "will be changing permanently."

Obituary information for Monday and Tuesday print editions will now have to be submitted by noon on Saturday. The deadline for submitting Information for notices to appear in Sunday print editions will be 4 p.m. Friday.

The earlier deadlines also will be in effect for the Elmira Star Gazette and the Ithaca Journal.

The revised deadlines will make things more challenging for families who are making funeral plans to properly publicize services.

One Binghamton funeral director said "it's going to be tough for us" to explain the situation to families, especially for those who are responding to the death of a loved one late in the week. He said the changes by the Press & Sun-Bulletin highlight "their irrelevance and their decline as a newspaper."

The planned deadline changes coincide with Gannett's move to close the Rochester-area printing plant where the Binghamton and other central New York papers have been produced in recent years.

Starting in April, the Press & Sun-Bulletin and other Gannett papers will be printed in Rockaway, New Jersey.

Gannett closed its Johnson City newspaper printing plant in June 2018.

The Press & Sun-Bulletin stopped printing a Saturday edition last March. It also no longer prints newspapers for most holidays. Gannett is expected to drop additional days from its print schedule in coming months.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.