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Slate(magazine)

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Not to be confused withSlant Magazine.

Slateis anonline magazinethat covers current affairs, politics, and culture in the United States. It was created in 1996 by formerNew RepubliceditorMichael Kinsley,initially under the ownership ofMicrosoftas part ofMSN.In 2004, it was purchased byThe Washington Post Company(later renamed the Graham Holdings Company), and since 2008 has been managed byThe Slate Group,an online publishing entity created by Graham Holdings.Slateis based in New York City, with an additional office in Washington, D.C.[1]

Slate
Type of site
Online magazine
OwnerThe Slate Group
Created byMichael Kinsley
EditorHillary Frey
URLslate
slate.fr
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional for Slate Plus and commenting only (US readers)
Metered paywall (non-US readers)
Launched1996;28 years ago(1996)
Current statusActive
ISSN1090-6584(print)
1091-2339(web)
OCLCnumber728292344

Slate,which is updated throughout the day, covers politics, arts and culture, sports, and news. According to its former editor-in-chiefJulia Turner,the magazine is "not fundamentally a breaking news source", but rather aimed at helping readers to "analyze and understand and interpret the world" with witty and entertaining writing.[2]As of mid-2015, it publishes about 1,500 stories per month.[3]

A French version,slate.fr,was launched in February 2009 by a group of four journalists, includingJean-Marie Colombani,Eric Leser, and economistJacques Attali.Among them, the founders hold 50 percent in the publishing company, while The Slate Group holds 15 percent.[4][5]In 2011,slate.frstarted a separate site covering African news,Slate Afrique,with a Paris-based editorial staff.[6]

As of 2021,the magazine is both ad-supported and has a membership model with ametered paywall.It is known, and sometimes criticized, for having adoptedcontrarianviews, giving rise to the term "Slate Pitches".[7][8][9]It has a generallyliberaleditorial stance.[10][11][12]

Background

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Slatefeatures regular and semi-regular columns such asExplainer, Moneybox, Spectator, Transport,andDear Prudence.Many of the articles are short (less than 2,000 words) and argument-driven. Around 2010, the magazine also began running long-form journalism. Many of the longer stories are an outgrowth of the "Fresca Fellowships", so-called because former editor Plotz liked the soft drinkFresca."The idea is that every writer and editor on staff has to spend a month or six weeks a year not doing their regular job, but instead working on a long, ambitious project of some sort", Plotz said in an interview.[13]

Slateintroduced apaywall-based business model in 1998 that attracted up to 20,000 subscribers but was later abandoned.[14]A similar subscription model was implemented in April 2001 bySlate's independently owned competitor,Salon.

Slatestarted a daily feature, "Today's Pictures", on November 30, 2005, which featured 15–20 photographs from the archive atMagnum Photosthat share a common theme. The column also features two animated "Interactive Essays" a month.

The design ofSlate's homepage from 2006 to 2013

On its 10th anniversary,Slateunveiled a redesigned website. It introducedSlate Vin 2007,[15]an online video magazine with content that relates to or expands upon their written articles. In 2013, the magazine was redesigned under the guidance of design directorVivian Selbo.

Slatewas nominated for four digitalNational Magazine Awardsin 2011 and won theNMAfor General Excellence. In the same year, the magazine laid off several high-profile journalists, including co-founderJack ShaferandTimothy Noah(author of theChatterboxcolumn).[16]At the time, it had around 40 full-time editorial staff.[16]The following year, a dedicated ad sales team was created.[17]

Slatelaunched the "Slate Book Review" in 2012, a monthly books section edited by Dan Kois.[18]

The next year,Slatebecame profitable after preceding years had seen layoffs and falling ad revenues.[2]

In 2014,Slateintroduced apaywall systemcalled "Slate Plus", offering ad-free podcasts and bonus materials. A year later, it had attracted 9,000 subscribers generating about $500,000 in annual revenue.[14]

Slatemoved all content behind ametered paywallfor international readers in June 2015, explaining "our U.S.-based sales team sells primarily to domestic advertisers, many of whom only want to reach a domestic audience....The end result is that, outside the United States, we are not covering our costs."[19]At the same time, it was stated that there were no plans for a domestic paywall.[3]

Reputation for counterintuitive arguments ( "Slate pitches" )

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Since 2006,[8]Slatehas been known for publishingcontrarianpieces arguing against commonly held views about a subject, giving rise to the #slatepitches Twitterhashtagin 2009.[9]TheColumbia Journalism Reviewhas definedSlatepitchesas "an idea that sounds wrong or counterintuitive proposed as though it were the tightest logic ever", and in explaining its success wrote "Readers want to click on Slate Pitches because they want to know what a writer could possibly say that would support their logic".[20]

In 2014,Slate's then editor-in-chief Julia Turner acknowledged a reputation for counterintuitive arguments forms part ofSlate's "distinctive" brand, but argued that the hashtag misrepresents the site's journalism. "We are not looking to argue that up is down and black is white for the sake of being contrarian against all logic or intellectual rigor. But journalism is more interesting when it surprises you either with the conclusions that it reaches or the ways that it reaches them."[2]

In a 2019 article for the site,Slatecontributor Daniel Engber reflected on the changes that had occurred on the site since he started writing for it 15 years previously. He suggested that its original worldview, influenced by its founder Kinsley and described by Engber as "feisty, surprising, debate-club centrist-by-default" and "liberal contrarianism", had shifted towards "a more reliable, left-wing slant", whilst still giving space for heterodox opinions, albeit "tempered by other, graver duties". He argued that this was necessary within the context of a "Manichean age of flagrant cruelty and corruption", although he also acknowledged that it could be "a troubling limitation".[21]

Podcasts

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See also:Panoply Media

According to NiemanLab,Slatehas been involved inpodcasts"almost from the very beginning" of the medium.[22]Its first podcast offering, released on July 15, 2005,[23]featured selected stories from the site read by Andy Bowers, who had joinedSlateafter leavingNPRin 2003.[22][24]By June 2012,Slatehad expanded their lineup to 19 podcasts, withPolitical GabfestandCulture Gabfestbeing the most popular.[22]This count had shrunk to 14 by February 2015, with all receiving six million downloads per month.[24]The podcasts are "a profitable part of [Slate's] business "; the magazine charges more for advertising in its podcasts than in any of its other content.[22]

  • Amicus– legal commentary
  • Audio Book Club
  • Culture Gabfest
  • Daily Podcast– some of everything
  • Decoder Ring– with Willa Paskin
  • The Waves(formerlyDoubleX) – women's issues
  • Hang Up and Listen– sports
  • Hit Parade– pop music history
  • If Then– technology, Silicon Valley, and tech policy
  • Lexicon Valley– language issues
  • Manners for the Digital Age
  • Mom and Dad Are Fighting– parenting
  • Money– business and finance
  • One Year– discussion of affairs from a given year[25]
  • Political Gabfest
  • Spoiler Specials– film discussion
  • Studio 360– pop culture and the arts, in partnership withPublic Radio International
  • The Gist
  • Thirst Aid Kit
  • Slow Burn
  • Video Podcast
  • Trumpcast

Slatepodcasts have gotten longer over the years. The originalGabfestran 15 minutes; by 2012, most ran about 45 minutes.[22]

Staff

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Michael KinsleywasSlate's founder and was its first editor, from 1996 until 2002.Jacob WeisbergwasSlate's editor from 2002 until 2008. Weisberg's deputy editorDavid Plotzthen became editor until July 2014,[26]when he was replaced byJulia Turner.

Turner resigned as editor ofSlatein October 2018.[27]

Jared Hohltbecame editor-in-chief on April 1, 2019.[28]He stepped down in January 2022.[29]

Hillary Frey was named new editor in chief in May 2022.[30]

Key executives

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  • Hillary Frey (editor in chief)
  • Dan Check (chief executive officer)
  • Charlie Kammerer (chief revenue officer)
  • Susan Matthews (executive editor)
  • Jeffrey Bloomer (features director)
  • Forrest Wickman (culture editor)

Notable contributors and departments

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Past contributors

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Other recurring features

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  • Assessment
  • Books
  • Dear Prudence (advice column)
  • Dispatches
  • Drink
  • Food
  • Foreigners
  • Gaming
  • Science Denial
  • Shopping
  • The Good Word (language)
  • The Movie Club
  • The TV Club

Summary columns

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References

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  1. ^"Slate Magazine: Private Company Information – Businessweek".Bloomberg.RetrievedJuly 2,2015.
  2. ^abcLevy, Nicole (September 30, 2014)."Long-serving deputy Julia Turner takes the reins at Slate".Capital New York.RetrievedSeptember 30,2014.
  3. ^ab"Unlimited FAQ".Slate.Archived fromthe originalon July 3, 2015.RetrievedJuly 2,2015.
  4. ^"Interview: Jacob Weisberg, Chairman, Slate Group: Breaking Out of the Beltway".CBS News.February 15, 2009.RetrievedJanuary 2,2023.
  5. ^"Slate.fr: Jean-Marie Colombani à l'assaut du Web, actualité Tech & Net – Le Point".Le Point(in French). February 10, 2009.RetrievedApril 28,2013.
  6. ^"Slate Afrique".VoxEurop. June 20, 2012.RetrievedJuly 2,2015.
  7. ^"Contrarianism's end?".The Economist.October 19, 2009.
  8. ^abWeisberg, Jacob (June 19, 2006)."What Makes Slate Slatey?".Slate.To be a Slatey writer, you must cut through the media welter... This can be done in a number of ways. [One] is to make the contrarian case that all the common assumptions about a subject are simply and hopelessly wrong.
  9. ^abCoscarelli, Joe (October 23, 2009)."Slate's Contrarian Ways Mocked on Twitter".Mediaite.
  10. ^Blake, Aaron (October 21, 2014)."Ranking the media from liberal to conservative, based on their audiences".Washington Post.RetrievedAugust 31,2017.
  11. ^Wolff, Michael (January 2007)."No Jokes, Please, We're Liberal".Vanity Fair.RetrievedAugust 31,2017.
  12. ^Winter, Jessica (May 21, 2015)."SlateIsn't Too Liberal. But... "Slate.RetrievedSeptember 21,2017.
  13. ^Levy, Dan (April 4, 2011)."Slate of Mind: Q&A with David Plotz".Sparksheet.Archived fromthe originalon October 27, 2019.RetrievedAugust 3,2019.
  14. ^abSawers, Paul (June 8, 2015)."Slate slides behind a metered paywall as global readers are asked to pay $5/month".VentureBeat.RetrievedJuly 2,2015.
  15. ^"Home".Slate V.RetrievedApril 28,2013.
  16. ^abFarhi, Paul (August 24, 2011)."Slate magazine lays off Jack Shafer, Timothy Noah".The Washington Post.ISSN0190-8286.RetrievedJuly 12,2015.
  17. ^"'Slate' Gets a New Publisher ".Adweek.August 27, 2012.RetrievedJuly 12,2015.
  18. ^Bosman, Julie (March 1, 2012)."Slate to Begin a Monthly Review of Books".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon February 27, 2013.RetrievedApril 28,2013.
  19. ^Turner, Julia (June 7, 2015)."Hello, International Reader".Slate.ISSN1091-2339.RetrievedJune 7,2015.
  20. ^Goldenberg, Kira (October 16, 2014)."Stop trolling your readers".Columbia Journalism Review.RetrievedOctober 16,2014.
  21. ^Engber, Daniel (January 8, 2019)."Free Thought for the Closed-Minded".Slate (magazine).RetrievedJanuary 9,2019.
  22. ^abcdePhelps, Andrew (June 4, 2012)."Slate doubles down on podcasts, courting niche audiences and happy advertisers".Nieman Foundation for Journalism.RetrievedApril 28,2013.
  23. ^"Slate's Podcasting Guide".Slate.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  24. ^abOwens, Simon (February 6, 2015)."Slate's podcast audience has tripled in a year, and its bet on audio over video continues to pay off".NiemanLab.RetrievedFebruary 6,2015.
  25. ^"One Year".Slate.November 17, 2021.
  26. ^Plotz, David (July 14, 2014)."David Plotz Says Goodbye".Slate.RetrievedJuly 14,2014.
  27. ^ "A Toast to Julia Turner".Slate.RetrievedFebruary 18,2019.
  28. ^Peiser, Jaclyn (March 6, 2019)."Slate Picks a Skilled Storyteller as Its New Top Editor".The New York Times.RetrievedMarch 7,2019.
  29. ^Tracy, Marc (January 5, 2022)."Slate's Top Editor Leaves After a Three-Year Run".The New York Times.RetrievedOctober 25,2022.
  30. ^Fischer, Sara (May 11, 2022)."Slate taps Hillary Frey as new editor-in-chief".Axios.RetrievedOctober 25,2022.
  31. ^abYoffe, Emily (November 12, 2015)."Don't Call It Closure".Slate.ISSN1091-2339.RetrievedJuly 31,2016.
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