'''Slate''' is an
English-language online news and culture magazine created in 1996 by former ''
New Republic'' editor
Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of
Microsoft, as part of
MSN. On
December 21,
2004, it was purchased by the
Washington Post Company.
Former political correspondent
Jacob Weisberg is the current editor and the Washington Post Company's
Cliff Sloan is ''Slate''
's publisher.
[1] ''Slate'' () is updated every day, and covers politics, arts and culture, sports, and news. It is
ad-supported and has been available to read free of charge since 1999.
Background
''Slate'' features regular and semi-regular columns such as Explainer, Chatterbox, and
Dear Prudence. Many of the articles tend to be short and relatively lighthearted pieces. There are also many meta-columns: collection and analysis of major newspapers,
magazines,
blogs, and the like. It has a number of associated
blogs, including some of the most notable on the Internet, such as the
Kausfiles. It also features frequent week-long diary series from interesting people and a link to each day's ''
Doonesbury'', whose website ''Slate'' hosts. ''Slate'' also features podcasts of several of its columns available for daily download.
[2]
''Slate'' contributes to the
National Public Radio show ''
Day to Day''.
Commentator Mickey Kaus's column "Kausfiles" is seen as one of the earliest
blogs.
Slate features a set of online forum boards called "
The Fray", the editing and moderator duties of which are left up to a "Fray Editor."
In March 1998, ''Slate'' attracted considerable notice by charging a $19.95 annual subscription fee, becoming one of the first non-pornographic sites to attempt a subscription-based business model. The scheme didn't work and, less than a year later, in February 1999, Slate dropped the charge and returned to free content, citing both sluggish subscription sales and increased advertising revenue. A similar subscription model would later be implemented by Slate's independently-owned competitor,
Salon.com, in April 2001. Salon.com is still primarily subscription-based as of 2007.
On
July 15,
2005, ''Slate'' began offering a
podcast, featuring selected stories from the site read by ''Slate'' editor
Andy Bowers. Another podcast, featuring the Explainer column, was later added, read by ''Slate'' foreign editor
June Thomas. A third, called Slate's Spoiler Special, reviews movies for people who have already seen them.
In September 2005,
Michael Kinsley returned to Slate, writing a weekly column to be published simultaneously in Slate and the ''
Washington Post''.
On
November 30,
2005, ''Slate'' started its daily feature ”Today's Pictures,” featuring fifteen to twenty photographs from the archive at
Magnum Photos that share a common theme. The column also features two flash animated ”Interactive Essays” a month.
In June 2006, on its 10th anniversary, Slate unveiled a redesigned website.
Editorial stance
''Slate''
's focus and editorial slant is politically
liberal, as seen in choice of columnists, choice of and position on topics, and featured cartoon, ''
Doonesbury''. During the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, a significant majority of staff and contributors supported Democratic challenger
John Kerry.
[3]
A more fine-grained analysis puts ''Slate'' slightly to the left of ''
The New Republic'', but still to the right of
Salon.com or ''
The Nation''. It includes many voices of the
Clintonian /
Democratic Leadership Council /
neoliberal point of view. These include two of its bloggers:
Mickey Kaus, whose favorite subjects include welfare reform and the potential for a future candidate from either party to reap major political gains by taking a law-and-order stance on immigration issues; and
Bruce Reed, who was
President Clinton's domestic policy adviser, and is current president of the
Democratic Leadership Council. Jack Shafer, one of its top editors, has stated that he has voted for the
Libertarian Party candidate for President in every election since he became eligible to vote. (One unusual feature of the magazine is that it explicitly states its staff's biases, going so far as to publish the presidential votes of individual staff members and writers
[4].) ''Slate'' frequently publishes columns that advocate a neoclassical view of economics, for example articles by professors
Paul Krugman,
Steven Landsburg, and
Tim Harford, who although perhaps classifiable as liberal, are still part of the economic establishment and have each done significant research work.
On the occupation of
Iraq, ''Slate'' has taken a "liberal hawk" perspective. This viewpoint is embodied in the frequent contributions of
Christopher Hitchens,
William Saletan,
Michael Kinsley,
Anne Applebaum, and others.
Timothy Noah is the only ''Slate'' staffer who initially opposed the U.S. invasion, and even he was persuaded to abandon his relatively dovish position by
Colin Powell[5]. Since the war began, however, the magazine has been increasingly critical of the war's handling, most strongly in
Fred Kaplan's "War Stories" column.
Contributors/Departments
Other recurring features
★ The Book Club
★ Culturebox
★ Foreigners
★ Dispatches
★ Books
★ Fashion
★ Shopping
★ Gaming
★ The Movie Club
★ Science
'Summary Columns:'
★ Today's Papers
★ Today's Blogs
★ In Other Magazines
★ Summary Judgement (with
NPR's
Day to Day)
Other notable contributors
★
Anne Applebaum
★
Kevin Arnovitz
★
Ian Bremmer
★
Phillip Carter
★
Tamara Chalabi
★
David Edelstein
★
Franklin Foer
★
Robert Lane Greene
★
Will Leitch
★
David Helvarg
★
Dan Kois
★
Meghan O'Rourke
★
Daniel Radosh
★
Witold Rybczynski
★
Judith Shulevitz
★
Rodney A. Smolla
★
Chris Suellentrop
★
James Surowiecki
★
Rob Walker
★
Robert Wright
★
Tim Wu
★
Fareed Zakaria
References
★
The ''Slate'' Web site
1. ''Who We Are'' (Slate staff portraits) Accessed March 23, 2007
2. http://www.slate.com/id/2119317/
3. ''Slate Votes''. Slate, October 26, 2004
4. http://www.slate.com/id/2108714/
5. Timothy Noah: ''Chatterbox Goes to War''. Slate, February 10, 2003
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