On April 11th, 2008, Frank Wilson, recently-retired Book Review Editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer and avid blogger, had an intimate conversation about the state of journalism, the demise of newspapers, and the new trend of blogging in his field. The event, hosted by professors Scott Stein and Paula Cohen of the College of Arts and Sciences, entertained a combination of 40 students, faculty and dedicated Wilson bloggers, who piled into the Paul Pecker Center at 2pm to hear a man full of experience share his views in person, instead of through the Internet.
After Stein gave a brief introduction, Wilson commented on his recent departure from the Inquirer. Recently, the Inquirer jumped on the book review bandwagon of only reviewing big-named authors. However, while Wilson was with the Inquirer, he enjoyed reviewing books with an "off beat theme" that the common reader wouldn't normally find reviewed in the New York Times. He reviewed underground and local books that could deliver something his readers would enjoy. The purpose of a review, according to Wilson, was to give an opinion of the story line without plot-revealing information.
Most book reviewers only write about books they enjoy, but Wilson had a different take on his responsibilities. "I'm not in the business to make reviews authors like," he said. Wilson thinks great books of the past, such as Moby Dick and Tom Sawyer wouldn't even be published today, let alone be the topic of a quality book review, if not for reviewers who take chances with their reviews.
Still, it's not possible to review every book that is published; there are around 180,000 books published each year, and on average Wilson reviews 400 to 500. Still, he advised, "Never regret what you haven't reviewed."
A member of the audience asked Wilson if he thought newspapers were dying, and, if so, what the news source of the future will be. "Newspapers are too behind on what's happening," said Wilson. The articles aren't interesting anymore. There isn't enough controversy. "It should take a good writer one hour to walk around and find a story." However, even if newspapers were more interesting, laptops make it easy for people to connect to the Internet, and with Philadelphia being the first wireless city, the public has a source of news just a click away.
Blogs are no longer dismissed as online gossip, either, but are considered an important development in communications. Wilson has his own blog, Booksinq, where he continues to write book reviews and comment on compelling daily news. Wilson said having any type of blog is just the same and just as prestigious as writing a column for a newspaper, except more people will have access to a blog.
Wilson's advice for the new bloggers in the audience: the easiest way to begin networking is through other well-known blogs. When commenting on similar blogs as your own, give a link to your blog. The best way to advertise a book used to be word of mouth, but blog buzz is faster. The new-age reader wants something that is short, diversely opinionated, and enjoyable. Blogs can cover all of these qualities fairly easily.
There are new blogs being created every day and according to Wilson, "It's about finding something worthwhile." The media market is changing and Wilson, along with many other critics, has embraced its evolution.
