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  • Shutting Down the Washington Post Book World?

    By Scott McLemee January 16, 2009 6:08 pm

    At the National Book Critics Circle blog Critical Mass, Eric Banks passes along word that "a reliable source at the Washington Post passes along the scary word that among the budgetary recommendations new editor Marcus Brauchli is making to his board is the elimination of Book World."

    I heard the same thing via a prominent young American historian just before seeing this.

    Once again ... Members of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) ought to contact Brauchli to let him know that this is not acceptable.

    The idea that such changes have anything to do with a lack of advertising by book publishers is nonsense. Is a sports section funded by advertising from the teams it covers?

    UPDATE: Brauchli tells Critical Mass, "We are absolutely committed to book reviews and coverage of literature, publishing and ideas in The Post. Our readership has a huge interest in these areas."

    But please note what he does not say -- that Book World is safe and its future secure. This is pretty basic "we are deeply committed to doing whatever it is we are supposed to be deeply committed to doing" language that would be used even if coverage were reduced to printing stuff off the wire.

    Politico reports: "High-level discussions about ending Book World have indeed taken place, according to a Post source with knowledge of the talks. However, no final decision has been made."

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Comments on Shutting Down the Washington Post Book World?

  • Sports vs. Books
  • Posted by Just Saying on January 19, 2009 at 9:25am EST

  • Not that I support the idea (in fact, I would mourn it, and what would Dirda do?) but I'm guessing a lot more people read the sports pages last year than picked up a novel. The Post doesn't care what kind of ads would be in Book World, if more newspaper readers were interested in opening the section.

  • Post coasting
  • Posted by Patricia Maloney on January 22, 2009 at 1:30pm EST

  • The POST shut down SUNDAY SOURCE at the end of 2008 with very little fanfare. Their sports coverage is inconsistent, unless one considers worship of the mediocre NFL team and it absurd owner worthy reading.

    Washington is a community of readers, and BOOK WORLD is a major avenue for that community.

    THE POST, like nearly all other print media, is in crisis. Copy is poorly edited, staff have been laid off in major waves, and they seem to be struggling with how best to integrate their online and print identities.

    Dumping BOOK WORLD will not accomplish much for them. The section is a keeper, published in a town where the written word matters, by a newspaper that has a national voice.

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