Mr. Crankypants read today that Neilsen Business Media has made the decision to close Kirkus Reviews, according to the Kirkus Reviews web site. No doubt librarians everywhere will mourn its death, as Kirkus Reviews has long been a source of excellent, honest book reviews; as for Mr. Crankypants, he mourns the loss of a motherlode of snark.
So why did Nielsen kill Kirkus? The L.A. Times reported that Nielsen purchased Kirkus Reviews as part of a trade publication group that included ten periodic; yet Nielsen sold most of the other titles, including Billboard and (gag) Brandweek. Says the L.A. Times, “It was unclear why a buyer had not been found for Editor and Publisher [a trade journal covering newspapers] and Kirkus. A Nielsen Business Media company spokesman said they were ‘no longer aligned with our strategy’.”
Nielsen killed Kirkus because the beancounters won again: short-term profits and laziness once again triumphed over intellectual and cultural importance.
Also, they closed Editor and Publisher which was an important source of information for your grandfather, and for all jouirnalists. Business decisions are not always in the best interest of the rest of us.
I’m very, very sad about this. Kirkus reviews were fabulous, and I used them regularly to assist in my book purchasing for the library.
There’s been a bit of discussion about the end of Kirkus on Roger Sutton’s blog, too.
At least now there is still Booklist and — unfortunately — the dreaded, evil, urban-centric Publishers Weekly. [Full disclosure: BL gave my book a stellar reivew; PW panned it. Still, PW never has “gotten” the Midwest, not ever.]
I wonder if bloggers will take up the space — they already are, but I wonder if librarians will turn to trusted bloggers for book reviews. I know I look at Abby’s blog for children’s book reviews!