Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of the Washington Post, sent a memo to his staff announcing, among other changes, that the book reviewers at the paper will now be reporting to the editors of the their respective sections. Brauchli's told PW that these moves will not affect the paper's coverage of books. "There will be no change at all in the number, length, or frequency of our reviews," he said, adding that the paper remains "absolutely committed to continuing our books coverage at the same level of excellence we have always had."
Rachel Shea has been overseeing the books staff for the past two and a half years and, when asked whether her position had been eliminated as a result of the reorganization, Brauchli would only say that he is not at liberty to discuss personnel matters.
The changes at WaPo come on the heels of a major shake-up, and much more significant cut-back, at the L.A. Times, which recently announced it was cutting all of its freelance reviewers. The Post made its most significant cut to its book coverage in 2009, when it killed its standalone Sunday review section, Book World, and folded reviews into other sections of the paper.
