Legacy’s new & improved obit platform now powers all 77 Lee newspaper markets
CHICAGO, Ill. (January 26, 2021) — Legacy.com, Inc., the leading provider of online obituary solutions, is pleased to announce a major expansion of the company’s relationship with Lee Enterprises, one of the nation’s leading providers of local news, information, and advertising.
Now, Legacy.com’s new and improved obituary platform powers notice publishing, condolence moderation, and sympathy commerce for all 77 of Lee’s markets and communities. These include the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Wisconsin State Journal, the Press of Atlantic City, and the Buffalo News, among many others.
“We are very excited about the Legacy partnership and what it offers our communities and readers,” says Brian Walsh, Classified Advertising Director of Lee Enterprises. “Legacy is an innovative, global leader in its industry. With the challenges our society is facing, it has never been more important to provide family and friends across the nation the opportunity to express condolences, show support, and celebrate the lives of those who have passed.”
With this expanded relationship, Legacy now works with more than 85 percent of the largest local news publishers in the United States, providing obituary-related services to more than 1,000 local newspapers. In addition to Lee Enterprises, major partners include Advance Publications, Gannett, Hearst, McClatchy, MediaNews Group, The New York Times Company, Tribune Publishing, and more.
“We’ve always understood how vitally important local newspapers are for honoring lives through obituaries,” says Stopher Bartol, CEO of Legacy. “The pandemic has reminded everyone how important high-quality local news is to us all. The community-based newsrooms like those Lee sustains are the ones reporting the information we care about most. And for countless Americans every day, their local obituaries are some of the most meaningful news there is.”
The partnership marks another highlight in a busy year for both companies. In early 2020, Lee Enterprises’ network of news publishers nearly doubled in size with the acquisition of BH Media Group. In the spring, Legacy launched a new and improved obituary experience for all its users, supporting the needs of newspapers and families as the pandemic has affected memorial services everywhere.
About the Local Media Consortium
The Local Media Consortium delivers economic value through strategic partnerships and initiatives on behalf of over 90 local media companies in top markets across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and includes more than 4,500 outlets. The LMC delivers over $50M in annual financial benefit to its members by harnessing their combined volume and scale to reduce costs and increase revenue with technology and service providers like Google, Facebook, Monster and others. The LMC has also launched several strategic initiatives to provide cost-effective shared services and aggregated ad revenue opportunities for its members like The Branded Content Project, The Matchup and the Local News Advertiser Inclusion List. According to ComScore, the aggregated LMC audience footprint spans 212 million monthly unique visitors and reaches 80% of the U.S. online audience. More information is available at http://www.localmediaconsortium.com/.
About Legacy.com
Legacy.com is the global leader in online obituaries with over 40 million visitors each month. The company provides support and obituary-related services to more than 1,500 newspapers and 3,500 funeral homes in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the U.K., to help people express condolences and share remembrances of loved ones. Legacy.com partners benefit from unparalleled scale and expertise that delivers industry-leading products, innovative e-commerce solutions, and award-winning customer service. Legacy.com is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Media contacts:
Christina Gillham
Kristin Brocoff, 949-400-4899
Tracie Martin