Slate (magazine)

Slate features regular and semi-regular columns such as Explainer, Moneybox, Spectator, Transport, and Dear 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 drink Fresca. "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.[14]

Slate introduced a paywall-based business model in 1998 that attracted up 20,000 subscribers but was later abandoned.[15] A similar subscription model was implemented in April 2001 by Slate's independently owned competitor, Salon.com.

Slate started a daily feature, "Today's Pictures", on November 30, 2005, which featured 15–20 photographs from the archive at Magnum Photos that share a common theme. The column also features two Flash animated "Interactive Essays" a month.

The design of Slate's homepage from 2006 to 2013

On its 10th anniversary, Slate unveiled a redesigned website. It introduced Slate V in 2007,[16] 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 Director Vivian Selbo.

Slate was nominated for four digital National Magazine Awards in 2011 and won the NMA for General Excellence. In the same year, the magazine laid off several high-profile journalists, including co-founder Jack Shafer and Timothy Noah (author of the Chatterbox column).[17] At the time, it had around 40 full-time editorial staff.[17] The following year, a dedicated ad sales team was created.[18]

Slate launched the "Slate Book Review" in 2012, a monthly books section edited by Dan Kois.[19]

The next year, Slate became profitable after preceding years had seen layoffs and falling ad revenues.[9]

In 2014, Slate introduced a paywall system called "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.[15]

Slate moved all content behind a metered paywall for 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."[20] At the same time, it was stated that there were no plans for a domestic paywall.[10]

Slate's articles have presented news and opinions from a liberal perspective, eventually evolving into a self-proclaimed liberal news site.

According to NiemanLab, Slate has been involved in podcasts "almost from the very beginning" of the medium.[23] Its first podcast offering, released on July 15, 2005,[24] featured selected stories from the site read by Andy Bowers, who had joined Slate after leaving NPR in 2003.[23][25] By June 2012, Slate had expanded their lineup to 19 podcasts, with Political Gabfest and Culture Gabfest being the most popular.[23] This count had shrunk to 14 by February 2015, with all receiving six million downloads per month.[25] 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.[23]

Slate podcasts have gotten longer over the years. The original Gabfest ran 15 minutes; by 2012, most ran about 45 minutes.[23]

Jacob Weisberg was Slate's editor from 2002 until his designation as the chairman and editor-in-chief of The Slate Group in 2008. Weisberg's deputy editor David Plotz then became editor until July 2014,[26] when he was replaced by Julia Turner.

Turner resigned as editor of Slate in October 2018.[27]

Jared Hohlt became editor-in-chief on April 1, 2019.[28]

The Washington Post Company's John Alderman is Slate's publisher.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Slate (magazine).

• Official website
• Slate (in French)