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The Washington Post online is one of my favorite sources for the news of the day as well as for opinion about the news of the day. Moreover, the books section is a site that I turn to for reviews and recommendations. Thus it was with some consternation and sadness that I read (in The New York Times) that The Post's book section supplement is being scuppered. But it is not just the supplement that is being decimated. This week The Post has laid off one-third of its employees.

As many will remember, The Washington Post was bought by Jeff Bezos in 2013. The paper was in trouble and Bezos "bought it to save it." But that was a gentler time. The world and (perhaps) Jeff Bezos have changed since then. Bezos had already reduced the newsroom in recent years and now he has put an end to the book section that so many of his readers have relied on.

As Marty Baron, The Post's former chief editor from the Watergate era was quoted as saying, "It is difficult to contemplate, and hard to forgive, a decision to sever The Post’s relationship with books." But here we are. We are at the mercy of an owner who evidently feels no obligation to honor the past or meet the needs of the readers by continuing to publish a book section. I guess the thinking is "Who reads books in this age of videos?"


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