What's going on with the obituary column?" It was Jim Wiggins of Louisburg who asked that question last week, but he was speaking for a good many death-page devotees who have contacted the public editor in recent weeks to complain about changes in The News & Observer's obituary columns.

On April 8, the paper began listing the paid notices alphabetically, in response to concerns of readers who couldn't easily find notices of loved ones. Previously, the N&O put the obituary page together like a jigsaw puzzle, placing individual notices according to how they best fit on the page.

Advantage of the new listings: you can find your recently departed friend or loved one with ease. Disadvantage: the alphabetical listing results in some obits "breaking" from the bottom of one column to the top of another. That, one reader told me last week, is disrespectful to the deceased.

Personally, I doubt the deceased cares. But it is troublesome to those he/she left behind, and it's inconvenient for people who clip out the newspaper notice for their family Bibles or scrapbooks. Some funeral homes provide keepsake copies of obituaries as a service to clients, and they weren't happy with the change either.

"My concern is that we laminate the obits for the families, and it is so difficult to put them together when they go from one column to the next," said Alex Lee of Bryan-Lee Funeral Home in Raleigh. "It sure makes it harder for us."

As N&O publisher Orage Quarles III said, you can't win for losing. "We made the decision because of the many complaints from readers about not being able to find the information about their loved ones right away," he said. "Folks felt we were making them search for info when an alphabetical listing would make it so much easier. Over and over, people tell us that they don't have a lot of time. Our attempt here is to just make it easier."

Newspapers tinker with paid death notices at their own peril. About a third of N&O readers check them regularly, about two-thirds at least occasionally. The readership is intense. (And, often, rewarding. An obit last Tuesday said the deceased "finally cashed in on the biggest lottery ticket.")

We should make clear here that we're talking about two kinds of death notices. The N&O provides a free "summary obituary" for every death in our readership area that is called in to us, usually by funeral homes. Free obits, brief and concise, already were organized alphabetically.

If a family wants more, they can buy space for an account of the loved one's life. These notices are sold as advertisements through The N&O's classified advertising department, and at $3.16 a line they are a not incidental source of revenue for the company.

It is the paid obits that were recently changed. Because of their varying lengths, they are more difficult to lay out on a page and, if done alphabetically, almost by necessity break from one column to the next. "Our designers are trying to break as few as possible while still adhering to the mandate to alphabetize," said Design Editor Teresa Kriegsman. "We're really conscious of where they break, but we can't prevent them breaking and keep them alphabetized."

Obituary layout, you'd think, is not rocket science, nor is it unique to The News & Observer. I checked with 18 sister newspapers around the country, and most organize their obituaries alphabetically.

A few avoid breaks by adding small "filler" ads at the bottom of columns. Problem is, fillers add more space, and cost-conscious newspapers these days are looking for ways to reduce, not increase, newsprint expenses.

The N&O's classified advertising department thinks it has found a compromise solution. While continuing to alphabetize obits, it will produce separate copies of the obits without breaks and provide them to families and funeral homes as keepsakes.

That strikes me, frankly, as a clunky solution, and it still doesn't solve the problem for readers who like to clip out death notices and send them to bereaved families who appreciate extra copies. Or who are just offended by breaking obits.

In a way, this vexing issue comes down to a question of customers versus readers. Should The N&O lay out the page without obit breaks, to please the funeral homes and families who pay for the notices? Or should we make it easier for readers by alphabetizing?

My vote would be to satisfy the larger audience, readers, who regard the obituaries as news, not ads. My guess is -- as editors at the other papers told me -- people will get used to alphaobits. But if the readers tell us otherwise, through e-mails and phone calls, The N&O should be prepared to go back to the old way.

So, let us hear from you. You can contact me directly, or the classified advertising department at obits@nando.com, 829-4545.