Paper Palate

The Washington City Paper media department reported on March 3 that the Washington Post may be getting rid of their Wednesday Food & Dining section in favor of combining it with the Health and Home sections and running this mixed “lifestyle” section three times a week.

There is also talk of adding coverage of spirituality and parenting to the lifestyle mix, with Managing Editor Phil Bennett stating that those two topics “don’t have a consistent home in the paper but…are very important to many readers.”

The question, of course, is why ditch the separate sections, when the topics will continue to be covered, just spread out over the week, and in a jumbled fashion?

The answer most likely lies in economics financial effeciency. If the three separate sections are brought together under one collective section, then, it is possible that three small section staffs can be combined into one small section staff. No mention is made of how large the combined section would be; however, I expect it would be fewer pages than the current broadsheet sections as they are run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

If that is the case, then a smaller single staff makes economic sense for the Washington Post, which recently announced that thier readership fell 4.5 percent in 2005.

All of this makes good dollars and sense to the newspaper’s publishers, but it might mean that foodies will have a harder time of getting the skinny on the food scene in Washington. It is, of course, much simpler to pick up the paper on a Wednesday, knowing that the Food & Dining section is in one place, than having to scan a section three times a week and to get the food news and recipes one wants.

Thanks to Growers & Grocers editor, Derrick Schneider and eGullet for pointing this story in my direction.