The news lately is almost always about book review sections folding—but the Wall Street Journal will soon be LAUNCHING a review section of its own. Reports GalleyCat:
Former Atlantic editor Robert Messenger will helm a brand new pull-out book review section at The Wall Street Journal.
According to the New York Observer, Messenger will edit the new section and supervise web reviews as well. Current books editor Erich Eichman will answer to Messenger as well. An internal memo projected that the section will launch sometime in September.
The New York Observer sees this as the WSJ’s first salvo in a battle with the New York Times:
The Journal has never had a standalone book review before, and creating one now flies in the face of ever-dwindling book coverage in papers across the country.
The book review will be a pull-out section that will be inserted in one of the newly created sections for The Weekend Journal that will launch later this month. It is unclear how many pages will be dedicated to the new book review, but one source said it will be “significant,” though it’s uncertain if that means it will surpass The Times’ usual 20-plus pages for its weekly Sunday Book Review, or if it will be in the same ballpark. […]
Clearly Mr. Murdoch, who is taking on The Times is New York, has chosen his next battle ground.
