Washington Post's Book World ends stand-alone run

The Washington Post's Sunday stand-alone book section, Book World, will come to an end and be absorbed by the paper. The last issue will be printed on Feb. 15, but Book World will remain on the Internet.

Along with the New York Times Book Review, Book World was among the last dwindling stand-alone book sections in the country. Unfortunately, as newspapers struggle to come up with advertisers, they often find book sections to be particularly unprofitable because many publishers don't spend much money on newspaper ads. Book World was created in 1967, was absorbed by the paper in 1973 and returned to a separate publication format in 1980.

The Los Angeles Times combined its separate Sunday book section with its opinion page in 2007. In 2001, The San Francisco Chronicle's stand-alone book section merged with the rest of the paper. In May of 2007, it was reported that "a handful" of protesters demonstrated in front of the Atlanta Journal Constitution when it eliminated the position of book editor.

Experts have said that the lack of coverage speaks to the nations priority for a literate culture. Other says it's just basic economics. Historian Douglas Brinkley somewhat melodramatically told the New York Times that he believes the book industry and book reviews need a government bailout, pleading: "So if we can do that for radio, and we could do that for television why can't we do that for the book industry, which is suffering terribly right now?"