Book Babes

The newspaper book editor is becoming an endangered species.

In April, the Los Angeles Times dropped its stand-alone book section, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution eliminated its book editor and the Chicago Tribune announced plans to shift its book-review section from the prestige of a Sunday slot to low-circulation Saturday.

RELATED RESOURCES

Critical Mass, the National Book Critics Circle blog "Are Book Reviewers Out of Print?" By Motoko Rich "Scarcity of Ads Endangers Newspapers' Book Sections" By Jeffrey Trachtenberg "America's death march toward illiteracy" By Kathleen Parker "The folly of downsizing book reviews" By Michael Connelly

This comes soon after the Associated Press abandoned its book-review package, The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., reassigned its book editor and a host of newspapers across the country reduced the space they devote to book reviews.

In response, the National Book Critics Circle, an organization that claims more than 600 members, has launched a Campaign to Save Book Reviews. The group has been collecting signatures -- more than 4,500 as of May 2 -- for a petition to reinstate AJC book editor Teresa Weaver. The group is planning to protest Thursday in Atlanta. On the group's blog, Critical Mass, NBCC president John Freeman urged readers to send e-mails to AJC, protesting Weaver's removal: "There are some things, I believe, that the 'all-knowing' capital markets may not place a value on, but readers do -- so it's important that they hear from you, loudly."

Meanwhile, a blizzard of commentary on the Web has been poking newspapers in the eye for their anti-literary ways. Columnist Scott McLemee at InsideHigherEd.com urged librarians to join the NBCC fight. Critic and NBCC board member Art Winslow, in his blog on HuffingtonPost.com, lamented the "rolling blackout." Writer George Saunders, on the NBCC site, offered a mock memo (scroll down to "Did you get the Memo?") in the spirit of George Orwell's "1984," congratulating the troops for bringing us closer to a bookless (and mindless) society.

These self-appointed Cassandras of culture may seem naive to some journalists. They may wonder how much book critics understand the financial turmoil in the newspaper industry, and where the eggheads got the idea that literature trumps lucre.

But the book critics may be pointing to a problem that newspapers ignore at their peril: With TV and the Internet breathing down its neck, print journalism may be more dependent than it thinks on the discriminating reader.

In a March article for The Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Trachtenberg blamed the cutbacks in book sections on book publishers who, he claimed, had diverted dollars away from newspapers. But those dollars have always been notably scarce. Book publishers, operating with low profit margins, rely on newspapers to get the word out about their books -- through editorial columns, not ads. Notable exceptions are The New York Times and USA Today, both of which have a national reach.

Advertising wasn't the catalyst for most book-review sections. Rather, newspapers viewed book sections much the same way as they did editorial: as a service to the serious reader. Editorial and op-ed covered politics and civic life, while book pages were the place to continue the discussion and stay abreast of the world of ideas. For newspapers, this was a contribution to the country's ongoing cultural conversation.

Some are hanging in there -- but only the ones that are convinced their readers care. When the San Francisco Chronicle announced it was dropping its stand-alone section, the outcry was strong enough to have the section reinstated, albeit reduced from six pages to four. Thanks to its own book festival, which last year drew a crowd of 127,000, the Los Angeles Times is reminded annually that books matter to its readers.

Perhaps that's why, when it made the decision to combine its book section and op-ed pages into a single tab as an economy measure, the Times' book editor managed some artful dodging: The events calendar and the bestseller list were moved to the Web, which is growing as an alternative medium for book editors nationwide. No review space was sacrificed, and no staff was eliminated.

The NBCC hopes its call to arms will have a similar effect elsewhere. At the least, it is alerting newspapers and readers that book sections matter.

Now the critics' group needs to start another discussion: how to make books and reading more visible everywhere else. Newspapers are not the only outlet that can carry the cultural conversation to a wide audience. Just ask Oprah.