Washington Post eliminates business section

Sorry if this is somewhere else; I didn't see it on journalism board.

Starting March 30, business news will fold into A section. Just give readers less. That's the ticket to building readership!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/13/AR2009031302275.html

 

Why not fold Metro into the A section as well? Then you'll have one humongous A section, Style and Sports!

Once again, a major paper cuts off its nose to save money on facial tissue.

 

And once you lose them, they aren't coming back. Let's give them less product!

 

Pizza hut to remove cheese and sauce from all pizzas immediately in an effort to save money.

 

Brilliant!!! Now, there's no place to put how bad Washington Post Inc. is doing.

 

Didn't the Post used to put Business in the back of the Sports section occasionally? I don't think it was always its own section.

Nevertheless, another bad sign. The Post also cut Book World and Sunday Source from the Sunday editions recently. TV week is gone too, although subscribers did have the option to request it be delivered on Sundays.

Just a few years ago the Post filled two paper grocery bags each week on recycling day. It easily fits into one these days.

 

The Orange County Register folded the business section into the A section in early 2008, then reinstated the separate biz section a couple months ago when they figured out that readers wanted it after all:

http://ocbiz.freedomblogging.com/2009/01/06/oc-register-restores-stand-alone-business-section/7696/

 

Dumb idea. I know a couple business editors who said their papers turned the business section into garbage and readers in the community have noticed. And dropped their subscriptions. Ridiculous. Our products are becoming wortheless pieces of shit. But boy those videos online are really something.

 

Aw, what the hell, all the Bernie Madoff and Freddie Mac stories were running in the A section anyway.

 

You know, Frederik, I uploaded several videos tonight. And they tell my story better than any story could.

Are they profitable now? Well, no, but that's not to say they always will be.

 

This has been going on all over the place lately, though the Post now takes the crown (from the Boston Globe) as biggest, most-high-profile paper to do it.
Problem is, most places just aren't selling many ads in their biz sections, for whatever reason. So you have these four-page standalone sections on too many days, and they feel kind of pathetic.
The good thing is, they're typically not cutting business staff (it's kind of the most important story on the planet right now). They're just running their stuff elsewhere. As a business reporter, I don't think it's the worst thing in the world. But I don't like the message it sends to the local business community, either.