It is, by now, a familiar story, but one worth repeating: Another newspaper has decided to cut back its book review coverage. The Sunday book review section of the San Diego Union-Tribune has folded—the June 24 stand-alone section was the newspaper's last. Beginning July 1, the Union-Tribune's coverage of books will be folded into two pages within the Sunday entertainment section; the number of book reviews will be halved.
Southern California literary agent Sandy Dijkstra is encouraging San Diego area residents to protest the decision by sending e-mails to Union-Tribune editor Karin Winner, while the National Book Critics Circle, the organization that launched the "Campaign to Save Book Reviewing" in April, is taking it a step further by urging readers to contact local booksellers, publishers, radio and television stations, and the literature department at the University of San Diego.
The Union-Tribune joins the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Los Angeles Times, and the Raleigh News-Observer on the list of newspapers that have made significant cuts to their coverage of books.
