Deja Vu All Over Again in San Diego -- and What You Can Do

ONE OF THE WORRIES skittering through U.S. culture pages this spring was that the latest round of cutbacks might create a domino effect -- and that book sections held in high regard for the depth of their coverage would become vulnerable to the current less-is-more philosophy sweeping newspaper boardrooms.

This fever has unfortunately settled in at the San Diego Union Tribune (as has long been rumored). This weekend was the sign off for its stand alone book section at signonsandiego.com, a terrible irony as throughout the spring the paper was praised for its resilience. "Would you believe the plucky San Diego Union Tribune?" David Kipen asked in his piece, "Last Exit to Book land."

But it looks like once again there will be a goal line stand, as Kipen would have called it. Literary agent and long-time San Diego force Sandy Dijkstra (who earned her Ph.D. in French literature at UCSD) has been forwarding an email which reminds this battle has been fought and won in the past.

"Some of you may recall that some years ago, we faced a similar crisis of losing our Book Review. At that time, we circulated a "chain letter with a civic purpose", describing the San Diego reading community via stats and then, presenting a threat: IF the Book Review were not restored, we, the readers, writers, booksellers and publishers of San Diego, would evoke the spirit of Fahrenheit 451 and descend upon the offices of the San Diego Union-Tribune, bearing a coffin filled with the books of the many authors whose works would no longer be reviewed. We would then stage a READ-IN until we got news that our needs would be addressed. This threat, together with a deluge of chain letters hitting Mrs. Copley, forced the paper to restore the Review."

Dijkstra is encouraging readers to resurrect this spirit and write in to Union Tribune editor Karin Winner at (Karin.winner@uniontrib.com). Similar campaigns have in fact worked in the past (in San Diego and San Francisco) and at least brought the AJC into closer contact with readers and the publishing community about its decision to eliminate its book editor position. It may have even helped prevent deeper cutbacks at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. So speak out if this bothers you.

Some other things you can do:

--Contact local booksellers and publishers find out what they plan to do.

--Write in to local radio and television stations (where is Ron Burgundy when you need him?!)

--Contact the literature department at the University of San Diego (where writers as diverse as Rex Pickett and Kim Stanley Robinson earned their degrees)

--Write in to the Union Tribune’s op-ed page.

--Pickett

All the reasons why the Union Tribune’s decision is a bad one have been reiterated on this site and in panels which the NBCC has hosted. Newspaper book sections encourage reading, they help jump start conversations about books, they support the livelihood of writers, the importance of knowledge and skepticism, and they reach a lot of readers.

We all know newspaper sections aren't perfect, but any suggestion that this section had it coming would be an absolute canard. The paper featured the kind of long, in-depth, well-written and well-edited reviews which have become a rarity in newsprint. It didn't just cover local writing -- it highlighted African literature of the Diaspora, the best of young British novelists, and books on the cultural meaning assigned to virginity.

In short – through the stewardship of Arthur Salm, this was a section which brought the muchness of the world -- as it is represented in books -- to readers in a sophisticated fashion, and looks to be no more. Newspaper consumers, especially women, have continuously said this kind of coverage matters to them, and yet newspaper owners continue to go against that knowledge. Some newspapers have even proven that marketing this part of their Sunday section can actually improve ad sales and maybe even circulation.

So it makes good community sense, good business sense, and good cultural sense to keep a section like this running -- and yet, here we are. Sometimes, the community of readers needs to talk back. If you care about books and the intelligent discussion of them, sound off, write in, call in, talk to people who feel the same. And let's work together in trying to turn this around.

-- John Freeman