Scarcity of Ads Endangers Newspapers' Book Sections

SCARCITY OF ADS ENDANGERS NEWSPAPERS' BOOK SECTIONS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com]
Sometime this spring, the Los Angeles Times is expected to announce that it is folding its highly esteemed Sunday book review into a new section that will combine books with opinion pieces. That would reduce to five the number of separate book-review sections in major metropolitan newspapers still published nationwide, down from an estimated 10 to 12 a decade ago. The reason: not enough ads. Book publishers in recent years have moved away from buying ads in standalone book-review sections in favor of paying to stack mounds of books in the front of chain bookstores. Some small literary publications, such as the New York Review of Books, are showing growth, but the book review as a separate section is endangered not only at the Los Angeles Times but at other major newspapers like the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle and San Diego Union-Tribune. The New York Times Book Review is an exception.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117314450821127664.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
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