Slate (magazine)

==Background==
''Slate'' features regular and semi-regular columns such as ''Explainer, Moneybox, Spectator, Transport'', and ''[[Dear Prudence (advice column)|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.<ref>{{cite web |last=Levy |first=Dan |date= April 4, 2011 |title=Slate of Mind: Q&A with David Plotz |url= http://sparksheet.com/slate-of-mind-qa-with-david-plotz/ |work=Sparksheet |access-date=3 August 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027133919/http://sparksheet.com/slate-of-mind-qa-with-david-plotz/ |archive-date=Oct 27, 2019 }}</ref>

''Slate'' introduced a [[paywall]]-based business model in 1998 that attracted up 20,000 subscribers but was later abandoned.<ref name=":5">{{cite news |last= Sawers |first= Paul |date= June 8, 2015 |title= Slate slides behind a metered paywall as global readers are asked to pay $5/month|url= https://venturebeat.com/2015/06/08/slate-slides-behind-a-paywall-as-global-readers-are-asked-to-pay-5month-to-read-more-than-5-articles/ |work=[[VentureBeat]] |access-date= July 2, 2015}}</ref> 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 animation|Flash animated]] "Interactive Essays" a month.

[[File:Slate screenshot.png|thumb|right|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,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.slatev.com/ |title= Home |work= Slate V |access-date= April 28, 2013}}</ref> 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 [[American society of magazine editors#National Magazine Awards|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).<ref name=":6">{{cite news |title= Slate magazine lays off Jack Shafer, Timothy Noah |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/slate-magazine-lays-off-jack-shafer-timothy-noah/2011/08/24/gIQAtCCgcJ_story.html |newspaper= [[The Washington Post]] |date= August 24, 2011 |access-date= July 12, 2015 |issn= 0190-8286 |language= en|last= Farhi |first= Paul}}</ref> At the time, it had around 40 full-time editorial staff.<ref name=":6" /> The following year, a dedicated ad sales team was created.<ref>{{cite news|title= 'Slate' Gets a New Publisher |url= http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/slate-gets-new-publisher-143124 |access-date= July 12, 2015 |work= [[Adweek]] |date= August 27, 2012}}</ref>

''Slate'' launched the "Slate Book Review" in 2012, a monthly books section edited by Dan Kois.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/business/media/slate-to-begin-a-monthly-review-of-books.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130227193805/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/business/media/slate-to-begin-a-monthly-review-of-books.html |archive-date= February 27, 2013 |title= Slate to Begin a Monthly Review of Books |date= March 1, 2012 |last= Bosman |first= Julie |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] |access-date= April 28, 2013}}</ref>

The next year, ''Slate'' became profitable after preceding years had seen layoffs and falling ad revenues.<ref name=":0" />

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.<ref name=":5" />

''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."<ref>{{cite news |title= Hello, International Reader|url= http://www.slate.com/articles/briefing/slate_fare/2015/06/slate_s_new_international_paywall_how_it_will_work_for_readers_abroad.html |work= Slate |date= June 7, 2015 |access-date= June 7, 2015 |issn= 1091-2339 |last= Turner |first= Julia}}</ref> At the same time, it was stated that there were no plans for a domestic paywall.<ref name=":4" />

=== Reputation for counterintuitive arguments ("Slate pitches") ===
Since 2006,<ref name=":1" /> ''Slate'' has been known for publishing [[contrarian]] pieces arguing against commonly held views about a subject, giving rise to the #slatepitches Twitter [[hashtag]] in 2009.<ref name=":2" /> The ''[[Columbia Journalism Review]]'' has defined ''Slate'' [[Sales Pitch|pitches]] as "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".<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://www.cjr.org/the_kicker/trolling_readers.php |title= Stop trolling your readers|date= October 16, 2014 |access-date= October 16, 2014 |magazine= [[Columbia Journalism Review]] |last= Goldenberg |first= Kira}}</ref>

In 2014, ''Slate''{{'}}s then editor-in-chief Julia Turner acknowledged a reputation for counterintuitive arguments forms part of ''Slate''<nowiki/>'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."<ref name=":0" />

In a 2019 article for the site, ''Slate'' contributor 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".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://slate.com/technology/2019/01/quillette-claire-lehmann-intellectual-dark-web.html |title=Free Thought for the Closed-Minded |last=Engber |first=Daniel |date=8 January 2019 |website=Slate (magazine) |access-date=9 January 2019}}</ref>
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