A recent article in nowtoronto.com
reported that the Globe and Mail is
slashing its books section. In fact, the two literary editors are leaving their
posts and apparently no one will be taking their place. One of
t he editors said that a huge drop in ads is partly to blame,
while his colleague maintains that the paper now seems to prefer celebrity
gossip to literary criticism. If t his is true,
then that is a sad state of affairs. Where do readers who appreciate reviews
and great books go to read about the latest publications? Please don’t tell me
there aren’t any readers like that around because I personally know several.
What’s happening at the Globe and Mail isn’t unique, as many
major newspapers have slashed their books section, probably for similar
reasons. Also, as I’ve said before, more readers prefer reading reviews online,
which is fine. The problem is that our choices are being cut. The mystery
writing community has already seen reviewers’ columns slashed over recent years.
Now, I’m wondering if t he Globe’s best known crime fiction reviewer, Margaret Cannon, will
also lose her longstanding, popular column.
Most disturbing is the sense that
newspapers are slowly transforming into celebrity gossip rags to stay alive. Losing
the books section wouldn’t trouble me so much if t he
papers were exchanging literary criticism for serious news. After all, there are plenty of important
events going on in the world that deserve more attention. If celebrity
stories are grabbing even more space than they already have, then the media’s
in deeper trouble than I thought. To read the nowtoronto.com article, go to http://www.nowtoronto.com/books/story.cfm?content=190944
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