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Washington Post Buys Slate From Microsoft

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the it's-easy-and-it's-required dept.

securitas writes "The Washington Post has bought online magazine Slate from Microsoft for an undisclosed sum believed to be in the millions of dollars. The sale comes almost five months after Microsoft put Slate on the block (Slashdot) in late July. If you're looking for a perspective from someone other than Slate's editor Jacob Weisberg, Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz writes about the sale: 'According to ComScore Media Metrix, washingtonpost.com drew 4.5 million unique visitors last month, while Slate drew 4.8 million.' David Carr reports in the New York Times that Neilsen NetRatings recorded 6 million Slate visitors last month. Either way, Slate's audience is larger than the Post's online edition. You can learn more about the deal from AP via IHT or get streaming audio at NPR (Real|Windows Media)."

115 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. Fox News Must But Slate!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    There are still some them hippies there at slate. Fox News needs to buy em. People might figure out George W. don't know what he doin.

  2. Am I the only one who immediately thought... by Sensible+Clod · · Score: 5, Funny

    'why would one modern company buy something so low-tech from a tech company, of all people?'

    Then my mind saw those funky slate 'newspapers' from the Flintstones...

    *shudders*

    --

    The difference between spam and poop is that you don't have to dig through septic tanks looking for real food. -- Me
    1. Re:Am I the only one who immediately thought... by SYFer · · Score: 2, Funny

      Bedrock's "Daily Slab" was actually one of the great papers of its time. Far from being "funky," the Slab was a respected bastion of "hard news" until it was eventually bought out by Bill Gatestone the popularizer (although not the inventor) of the abacus.

      --
      "...all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness..." yada yada
    2. Re:Am I the only one who immediately thought... by Short+Circuit · · Score: 1

      Hehe. "Hard news"

      For those who don't know much journalism terminology, "Hard news" refers to strictly objective, factual stories. As opposed to "features," which are essentially reviews of a person, place, thing, event, etc., or "editorials," which reflect the opinion of the writer. (Or the opinion of the person who told him what to write.)

      --
      tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
    3. Re:Am I the only one who immediately thought... by mshurpik · · Score: 1

      My immediate thought is, fire all the Slate staff, keep the 4.8 million visitors + 4.5 million existing visitors = 9.3 million visitors for the same price as one site alone!

      Consolidation is the key to democracy. It's why the Muslims hate our freedom.

    4. Re:Am I the only one who immediately thought... by DigitumDei · · Score: 1

      While I'm sure its quite possible that this has been thought of by a room full of pointy hairs, isn't it the current Slate staff who are what all those 4.8 million visitors read? Okay, maybe there are a bunch of non creative staff who could be replaced, but its the people who write the columns that keep the people coming back. Change them, and you change the style, and soon they'll lose almost all those gains.

      Thankfully it seems that there are no plans for large scale retrenchments.

      --
      East Coast Brewers
    5. Re:Am I the only one who immediately thought... by R.D.Olivaw · · Score: 1

      not to mention that the math is most probably wrong. Is reading the magazines mutually exclusive?

    6. Re:Am I the only one who immediately thought... by operagost · · Score: 1

      I don't any newspapers in Philadelphia know the difference. Just look at the way the headlines read in the Inquirer and you'd be hard pressed to find one that doesn't spin a story (usually to the left).

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  3. Who reads Slate by upsidedown_duck · · Score: 3, Interesting


    I could never accept that Slate had genuine editorial independence from Microsoft. It's like MSNBC, Newsweek (I think), MSN, etc. that are all owned or influenced my Microsoft, and it's all very likely part of a grand marketing strategy.

    Microsoft putting their brand on something is like a poison pill for credibility.

    --
    -- "Makes Little Debbie look like a pile of puke!" - Moe Szyslak
    1. Re:Who reads Slate by rawket.scientist · · Score: 5, Informative

      I could never accept that Slate had genuine editorial independence from Microsoft.

      Slate did recommend Firefox over IE.

      --
      John Hancock wuz here.
    2. Re:Who reads Slate by koreaman · · Score: 1

      Dude, do you even read Slate?
      I do occasionally, and they do indeed have independance from Microsoft, often even recommending a competitor's product.

      --
      Le français vous intéresse?
    3. Re:Who reads Slate by aengblom · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I could never accept that Slate had genuine editorial independence from Microsoft.

      And yet Slate does and did have that independence. Perhaps one should judge a book by it's content and not its cover.

      P.S. Newsweek is actually owned by The Washington Post Co.. MSNBC.com does provide the online site for the magazine, but it controls no content -- except the occasional online exclusive multimedia production.

      --


      So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
    4. Re:Who reads Slate by catbutt · · Score: 2, Informative

      Back in 97 or 98, when the Microsoft trial was in full swing, Slate had the best (and funniest) daily reports from the trial. It made microsoft and their lawyers look like utter fools.

    5. Re:Who reads Slate by upsidedown_duck · · Score: 2, Funny

      Perhaps one should judge a book by it's content and not its cover.

      I prefer to follow the money.

      --
      -- "Makes Little Debbie look like a pile of puke!" - Moe Szyslak
    6. Re:Who reads Slate by aengblom · · Score: 5, Informative

      I don't mean to say you shouldn't be aware of the issue (Slate makes it pretty clear they they are owned by Microsoft), but that you should actually think for yourself.

      Make a decision based on the reality and not your assumptions. Hell Slate endorsed Firefox just a few months ago and it bashed a big huge Washington Post series this week. (And this has been expected for months.)

      --


      So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
    7. Re:Who reads Slate by mOoZik · · Score: 1, Troll

      Just the kind of uninformed reply I'd expect from a Slashdotter who has his head up Tux's ass.

      --
      A blog like any other.
    8. Re:Who reads Slate by mrklin · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I could never accept that Slate had genuine editorial independence from Microsoft.

      Can you accept that OSS/GPL/Linux/OS X users can form indepent opinions about OSS/GPL/Linux/OS X or Microsoft?

      Another factual correction: Newsweek is not own by Microsoft. And rather than throwing baseless accusation on how Newsweek is influenced by Microsoft? Any evidence?

    9. Re: Who reads Slate by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1


      > I could never accept that Slate had genuine editorial independence from Microsoft.

      I shied away from it for a long time for that very reason, but now I check it regularly. I especially like their daily summary of what's in the major papers.


      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    10. Re:Who reads Slate by Short+Circuit · · Score: 5, Funny

      And was promptly offered for sale...

      --
      tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
    11. Re:Who reads Slate by Anubis350 · · Score: 1

      I could never accept that Slate had genuine editorial independence from Microsoft.
      thats because their editorial independance isnt written in stone... :-P




      its a joke ppl, laugh!

      --
      "goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series
    12. Re:Who reads Slate by upsidedown_duck · · Score: 1

      Any evidence?

      A while ago I picked up a copy of Newsweek and it had that MSN Butterfly everywhere. There was a disturbing number of Microsoft advertisements in that magazine. Way out of proportion to other advertisers. Someone above mentioned that MSNBC provides content to Newsweek's website. There is definitely some collaboration between the two.

      Microsoft is known for astroturfing, false advertising, lying, overcharging, extortion, you name it. How should I place any faith in anything they touch? They probably have the biggest marketing department outside of Big Tobacco--nothing that has the MS brand on it should be taken for granted.

      --
      -- "Makes Little Debbie look like a pile of puke!" - Moe Szyslak
    13. Re:Who reads Slate by Netssansfrontieres · · Score: 1

      perhaps that's why M$FT decided to $ell $late?

  4. pro linux? by datadriven · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Didn't slate run a pro-linux story a while back? ... Coincidence, I think not.

    --
    GETPKG - Package Management for Slackware
    1. Re:pro linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      By doing so, they lost credibility with the mature crowd. Microsoft is a serious business, not a tabloid outlet.

    2. Re:pro linux? by NetNifty · · Score: 1

      Not sure about pro-linux but i'm pretty sure Slate did a pro-firefox story a while ago.

      --
      Linux Wireless Hardware in the UK
  5. I mostly agree. They are both too corporatist by Cryofan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    With a few exceptions both the Post and Slate revealed themselves to me as CorpGovMedia mouthpieces during the run-up and aftermath of the Iraq war. That really opened my eyes. So, I couldn't really care less if they both went under....

    --
    eat shiat and bark at the moon
    1. Re:I mostly agree. They are both too corporatist by Tyler+Eaves · · Score: 1

      That's a dangerous attitude to take. If the Post went under, then that would increase the influence of the RIGHT-WING corporate media.

      --
      TODO: Something witty here...
    2. Re:I mostly agree. They are both too corporatist by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

      Another dangerous attitude is that the WP is *not* "right-wing", or that those right/left divisions mean anything. The main division is corporate vs. human. WP is clearly covering the corporate interest, as it always has. Occasionally corporations and humans have had common interests, like when Nixon's crimes threatened national security. But not before that, and WP went along before, and since.

      --

      --
      make install -not war

    3. Re:I mostly agree. They are both too corporatist by JMPrice · · Score: 1

      I've been moderating this conversation, but I'm going to have to step in cause I think you're libelling Slate.

      I don't doubt that the Post and the NY Times dropped the ball in their reporting of the lead up to the Iraq War. And the Washington Post's editorial board should be ridiculed for their hysterical warmongering and their failure--when they started criticizing the botched adventure--to admit that they made a mistake in endorsing the Iraq War earlier.

      But--did you really read Slate? I've been a dedicated follower of the magazine for some years now and I don't know where you find the evidence for your "CorpGovMedia" accusation. In fact, the only Slate contributor I remember who openly supported the war is Christopher Hitchens (and still does to this day, though, like 99% of the rest of us, is disappointed in its execution).

    4. Re:I mostly agree. They are both too corporatist by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

      Vietnam. Vast bribes for counterproductive military contracts. Drunkenness incapacitating him when heads of foreign states called. Demands that Kissinger order nukes fired at the North Vietnamese. Discrediting the Presidency when the nation was deeply divided over the war, the economy, civil rights. The list goes on, especially now that aged parties to his crimes are dying, and other witnesses feel freer to talk.

      --

      --
      make install -not war

  6. Next... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    According to the next forthcoming story by ComScore Media Metrix, Slate drew over 9.6 million unique visitors this month... after the site being mentioned on slashdot'

    1. Re:Next... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      That depends. From what I can gather Comscore Media Metrix is salesman code for "Marketscore spyware".

      If it is using Marketscore spyware to work this out then they really only have a certain percentage of the population stupid enough to use thier spyware and thier figures are reached by extrapolating what they do know over a large population. How many /. users do you think would be infected by Marketscore as opposed to the general public.

      I hate Comscore.

      I really do.

    2. Re:Next... by Utopia · · Score: 1

      Heh!
      Doubt it thought.
      Slate's readership is much larger than Slashdot's.

  7. Instant hipness? by Hawthorne01 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Sorry, Washington Post, but buying Slate does NOT mean you get the "New Media", anymore than Pathfinder meant that Time-Warner got it. The citizen-journalists of the blogsphere are where journalism is heading. There's a million fact-checkers out there, and the Old Media better wake up to it, or be cast aside.

    --
    "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
    1. Re:Instant hipness? by aengblom · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Just by that statement it's clear you're buying right into that same allusion that Time Warner ran into. There is no "old media." Newspapers, magazines, television, radio. They're still around.

      Yes, the bloggers are "new" and they're having some influence, but conduct a survey of most news oriented bloggers and I'll lay odds you'll find they're the biggest readers on the mainstream media out there.

      The WashPost is no straggler in the online world. They have lots of figure out, but they're far ahead of all but a few major news sites.

      --


      So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
    2. Re:Instant hipness? by miu · · Score: 4, Insightful
      There's a million fact-checkers out there

      The old media is nearly useless these days - corrupt and driven by greed, spin and fear. I don't have any faith in new media though because the truth doesn't naturally win out - the story that is accepted is that which has the best presentation and most nearly matches what the hearer wants to be true.

      --

      [Set Cain on fire and steal his lute.]
    3. Re:Instant hipness? by garcia · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The old media is nearly useless these days - corrupt and driven by greed, spin and fear.

      You neglect to mention that bloggers are just as greedy, full of spin, and willing to be either for the "fear" or diametrically opposed to it.

      I don't have any faith in new media though because the truth doesn't naturally win out - the story that is accepted is that which has the best presentation and most nearly matches what the hearer wants to be true.

      Sorry but I just don't trust the bloggers at all. Most of the time they are full of shit and break "stories" that are nothing more than trash.

      I read "new media" with a grain of salt and pour over stories from several outlets. After that you might get a better representation of what actually happened before it was filtered through the various outlets (including the government).

    4. Re:Instant hipness? by miu · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Maybe I didn't make it clear that I don't trust the bloggers either. A "citizen journalist" has none of the restraints of the traditional journalists profession, because of that they can feel completely justified in using deceit and logical fallacies to convince their audience. I don't think of it quite so much as "everyone can be a reporter and fact checker" as "everyone can be a propagandist and shill".

      --

      [Set Cain on fire and steal his lute.]
    5. Re:Instant hipness? by value_added · · Score: 2, Informative

      "...you're buying right into that same allusion that Time Warner ran into."

      I hesitate to count the number of mixed metaphors in that statement, but I believe the word you meant to use is "illusion."

    6. Re:Instant hipness? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      There is no "old media." Newspapers, magazines, television, radio. They're still around.

      Sure, they're still around.. but I work for a newspaper, and there is definitely a digital divide. Few in the newsroom think our website is even worth keeping up-to-date.

      We wanted them to classify stories based on content, to make it easier to search online, and to dynamically build interesting sections. No one "gets it" in the newsroom. They still classify stories based on the section their beat runs in. Their mind is still fully "I work for the metro desk, all my stories are metro stories, what more do you need to know?"

      Anyways, our publisher (Pulitzer) is about to sell. We'll see if the new boss is the same as the old boss.

    7. Re:Instant hipness? by Guppy06 · · Score: 1

      "anymore than Pathfinder meant that Time-Warner got it."

      What does Time-Warner have to do with Martian rovers?

    8. Re:Instant hipness? by MilenCent · · Score: 1

      There's a million fact-checkers out there, and the Old Media better wake up to it, or be cast aside.

      Actually, I'd say that there's a half-million people who say one thing is true, and another half-million who say the opposite is true. The whole Michael Moore bit, in which Moore and his supporters swear up and down that what they say is true (and I believe them by the way), and Moore himself posts what amounts to his notes on his website, and his opponents do a like amount of swearing that it's not, and create webpages in order to show supporters how wrong, WRONG he is, is an example.

      Another example is the whole "Rathergate" mess. Conservablogs made a big deal out of it. Liberalogs complain how it's nothing much. People who are attached to one side listen to what they want to hear and ignore the rest. Daily Kos posted an extensive article saying that, uh-huh, it was indeed possible for the memos to be on the up-and-up.

      More and more, so predicts Criswell, it'll become harder to find the true facts without going out and doing all the research yourself, largely negating the purpose of news in the first place.

    9. Re:Instant hipness? by cshark · · Score: 1

      "The citizen-journalists of the blogsphere are where journalism is heading. There's a million fact-checkers out there, and the Old Media better wake up to it, or be cast aside."

      But how much content in the blogsphere can really be taken seriously. Most of it reminds me of talk radio in that it's all slanted to one side or another, with little actual news (you know, that objective stuff with facts and useful analysis) to be found.

      Show me one blog site that comes anywhere near Slate in regard to professionalism and quality of content (don't be a wise ass and say /.), and I'll admit I'm wrong. Although, I don't think I am.

      --

      This signature has Super Cow Powers

    10. Re:Instant hipness? by Bob+Uhl · · Score: 1

      I'm not certain modern journalism has many of the restraints of traditional journalism, either--hence the popularity of the new media. Since the old media are turning into propagandists and shills, we all might as well be.

    11. Re:Instant hipness? by dabraham · · Score: 1
      I read "new media" with a grain of salt and pour over stories from several outlets. After that you might get a better representation of what actually happened before it was filtered through the various outlets (including the government).

      That's actually the big advantage that I see with new media. It's really difficult to forget that this is one person's opinion. Pro news spends a lot of money and effort helping me forget that, and trying to get me to accept their story as "truth".

      To be fair, I'd believe that the average pro actually is closer to "truth" than the average blogger. It's just that they try really hard to get you to skip that salt and just accept it.

      Oh, and it's harder to control "bloggers" than to control "CBS", "NBC", et al. Not impossible, just harder.

    12. Re:Instant hipness? by AceGopher · · Score: 1

      The number of email chain letters, hoaxes, and urban legends that appear in my inbox is proof that the "citizen-journalists" concept won't work.

      Fact checking? I can't even trust people to check snopes.com before forwarding!

      -Ace

    13. Re:Instant hipness? by ArtStone · · Score: 1

      Assuming this was a serious question, Pathfinder was a flashy news and entertainment portal back in the very early days of the ocmmerical internet (1996ish)... it was how Time Warner thought they would capture eyeballs in this new Internet thingy. It failed miserably and folded very quickly.

      The residue is still there at pathfinder.com, but the page is nothing more than a menu to the other Time Warner web sites.

      --
      Final 2006 "Proof of Global Warming" US Hurricane Count -> 0
    14. Re:Instant hipness? by miu · · Score: 1
      I think the real damage that has been done to old media news sources is a result of turning news into entertainment. The rot really set in when "Inside Edition" and the like became popular in the late 80s - from that point on the news format gossip program continually edged out actual news. Now commentators and pundits like Moore, Hannity, Franken, and Coulter can assume the mantle of journalism for the credibility, but claim they are entertainment if anyone uses attempts to use facts or logic on them.

      What I think might work is to try and preserve some of the verifiability and continuity of identity that naturally exists because of the nature of the old media, and find a way to create it for Internet news sources. Although I'm not sure how much good that would do, as it seems that any quality news source is doomed to be drowned out by demagogues and gossip regardless of the medium.

      --

      [Set Cain on fire and steal his lute.]
  8. A different perspective? by dominion · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you're looking for a perspective from someone other than Slate's editor Jacob Weisberg, Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz writes about the sale

    In other news, if you're looking for a different perspective on the two party system and it's ramifications for a healthy democracy other than Republican George Bush, here's Democrat John Kerry.

    1. Re:A different perspective? by securitas · · Score: 1


      Howard Kurtz is a well-respected media reporter and media critic.

      At the time I submitted the story, Kurtz's was the only article with any analysis that I found on the Web. It seems only fair to present the buyer's view since that of the bought was already linked.

      Your metaphor is flawed, which tends to happen with selective editing and taking excerpts out of context. If you read on, there are also three more stories: from David Carr at the New York Times, an AP story, not to mention the NPR audio -- hardly a "two party system".

      Feel free to link to another source.

    2. Re:A different perspective? by gad_zuki! · · Score: 1

      >Howard Kurtz is a well-respected media reporter and media critic.

      Mod this guy up as funny!

      Here's Kurtz in his own words.

      Kurtz wants to be treated like a celebrity.

      Kurtz knows newsworthiness!

      Kurtz knows how to place play the race card! And knows how to bury stories.

      To kurtz lying about war and starting one is the same about lying about a blowjob.

  9. Slate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Wow someone buying something of Microsoft's for once...is that breaking the rules?

  10. Inner Problems? by homeobocks · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess Microsoft is tired of their magazine supporting Firefox.

    --
    MOUNT TAPE U1439 ON B3, NO RING
    1. Re:Inner Problems? by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Yea following Web Programming Standards is a real problem.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  11. Sounds like a bad deal by Dynedain · · Score: 2, Interesting

    washingtonpost.com drew 4.5 million unique visitors last month, while Slate drew 4.8 million....Either way, Slate's audience is larger than the Post's online edition.

    And how much of that slate traffic is caused because slate is so tied in to MSN which is the default startpage for 90% of the home computer market?

    I have a strong suspicion that if slate is divorced from MS, its readership will decline drastically.

    --
    I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
    1. Re:Sounds like a bad deal by aengblom · · Score: 3, Informative

      And how much of that slate traffic is caused because slate is so tied in to MSN which is the default startpage for 90% of the home computer market?

      Much of it. And if you RTFA, you'll find that that partnership has been retained.

      --


      So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
    2. Re:Sounds like a bad deal by bazily · · Score: 1
      Better yet, do you think they analyzed the readership to figure out how many unique readers they had? I assume that's the point of paying millions of dollars for content that you could buy a lot cheaper. If you've got 10% overlap, you just paid a couple million for thin air.

      The dot com era is back!

      bazily

      -------
      Sublease a former .com office!

      --
      Why cut IT when your office space costs $3/sf? gibso
    3. Re:Sounds like a bad deal by davegust · · Score: 1

      I see one link to Slate out of about 250 on the front page of MSN. How is it "so tied in?" MSNBC is the primary news source for MSN.

      Also most new PCs do not use MSN as the start page. None of the major vendors leave IE pointed to MSN - they all have their own branded portals.

    4. Re:Sounds like a bad deal by the_rev_matt · · Score: 1

      I realize that it's against proper protocol to RTFA, but it does explicitly state that the relationship with MSN will continue.

      --
      this is getting old and so are you

      blog

    5. Re:Sounds like a bad deal by Miros · · Score: 1

      Hmmm, that's interesting, but i'd guess that in today's spyware infested world, most default windows installs by non geek users (the ones who dont change their homepage and use IE) probably get infested with spyware so fast, that their homepage wont stay msn for long.

  12. Not quite... by aengblom · · Score: 1

    Either way, Slate's audience is larger than the Post's online edition.

    Well, sort of. Slate's audience may be bigger in terms of "unique vistors," but washingtonpost.com recieves many more hits / page views for each visitor.

    --


    So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
    1. Re:Not quite... by Utopia · · Score: 1

      Source?

      The Fray is one the biggest draws of Slate.
      It has more posts than other online site on the web that I know of.
      I can't imagine anyone spending more time on Washington Post than on the 'The Fray'.

    2. Re:Not quite... by aengblom · · Score: 1

      Well the difference is less dramatic than I thought -- I admitedly wasn't thinking of the Fray --, but accoring to Nielsen, washingtonpost.com had a half million lead in overall audience and nearing triple the time spent per visitor. The unique visitors numbers are obviously are somewhat opposed to the article's figures, but that's web traffic stats for you.

      I'm a reader of both Slate and WashingtonPost.com and the fact that Slate competes with the traffice of an entire newspaper with a huge staff is quite a compliment.

      --


      So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
  13. Re:Another one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Apparently, Microsoft wants to focus on its core incompetencies.

  14. good for the WP by jonpublic · · Score: 2, Interesting

    i find slate extremely helpful, between the explainers to todays papers. some of it can be quite silly, but the majority of the content is excellent stuff. i've been checking out the washington post lately because of slate. they have quite a bit of helpful information that you don't find anywhere else, and they seem to carry full stories. if i want to find out what is actually going on and the motivations for that, i read the post. hopefully they can bring more of that to slate and slate can give them a bigger online audience.

  15. Re:Slate & WP == Neoliberal Propaganda Machine by TheOriginalRevdoc · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Neoliberal? Corporatist? What is this, political buzzword bingo?

    It sounds to me like you just don't want to read anything that contradicts your world view. That puts you in the same general area as Bill O'reilly fans.

  16. Re:Slate & WP == Neoliberal Propaganda Machine by Stormwatch · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Strangely, here in Brazil people say "neoliberal" meaning "one who defends an unregulated capitalism" - a la my favorite writer, Ayn Rand.

    --
    Circumcision is child abuse.
  17. I read that crap for years. I even wrote it! by Cryofan · · Score: 1

    I used to read newspapers like the WP on a daily basis--even multiple newspapers. I even wrote tv news scripts for a CBS affiliate! I know their slant, now. I don't need to fill my head with their propaganda anymore. Already got enuf of it floating around in there....

    --
    eat shiat and bark at the moon
    1. Re:I read that crap for years. I even wrote it! by Cryofan · · Score: 1

      Blogs, websites, yeah. Not much tv news for me, though. I don't have cable, so no jon stewart for me. Anyway, he is pretty much a hack himself. He never talks about populist or leftist economics, from what I can tell. He is a "social liberal", not an "economics liberal." He looks at things from a social leftist perspective, i.e., a politically correct perspective.

      THat is what is wrong with the democratic party today--they cater to the socially leftist latte-sipping yuppies and yuppie wannabes. Social leftists are all about gay rights, women's rights, affirmative action, abortion rights, tree hugging, war from a social leftist perspective, as opposed to a economics leftist perspective. Yeah, some of the democratic party activists like you see online are both, but the media hardly ever shows that side of it. It is almost all social leftism.

      Does Jon Stewart ever mention a wealth tax or progressive taxation? OK, he has a comedy show. not an academic show. But I know that he works socially leftist thought into his show. So why not economic leftist thought? Because he is fairly rich, and economic leftism would take away some of his money?

      Anyway, here is the best blog: Zblog! of Znet. Good stuff there! :-)

      --
      eat shiat and bark at the moon
  18. Re:Slate & WP == Neoliberal Propaganda Machine by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1, Interesting

    No, those are political terms that actually *mean* something. When you tune them out, because you're propagandized into distrusting people who tell the uncooked truth about neoliberalism and corporatism, it is *you* who puts the blinders on yourself, like the O'Riled zombies. And the "irony" (perversion) of your charging Cryofan with exactly that, when he's doing the opposite, yet you are doing it yourself instead, makes me wonder if you're not O'Reilly itself, trolling Slashdot with a falafel.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  19. You think the Post is LEFTwing....how quaint! by Cryofan · · Score: 1

    I used to think that, too. Ya got a lot of reading to do, bud, Best start now.....

    --
    eat shiat and bark at the moon
    1. Re:You think the Post is LEFTwing....how quaint! by stupidfoo · · Score: 1

      I used to think that, too. Ya got a lot of reading to do, bud, Best start now.....

      Well, if you used to think that, and now your opinion has changed, clearly everyone who shared you old opinion is wrong! What a condescending and arrogant way to go through life.

      By your logic, I used to be fairly liberal, now I'm fairly conservative. I guess that means (by your logic again) that you have a lot of reading to do, bud. Best start now.

      If you go far enough to the left you'd feel that the WashPost is a conservative newspaper.

      Just like some people probably think the Wash Times is a liberal newspaper because they're far enough to the right.

  20. Yawn, day late, dollar short by Ars-Fartsica · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Slate, Salon, etc have all been displaced by blogs which are a much better venue for partisan punditry.

    1. Re:Yawn, day late, dollar short by aengblom · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Slate has 4.8 million unique visitors per month and is profitable. How is that displaced?

      --


      So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
    2. Re:Yawn, day late, dollar short by spike2131 · · Score: 1

      Replaced is the wrong word - I read plenty of blogs, and the Kausfiles blog on Slate is the best of the lot.

      --
      SpyDock: Scientific Python in a Docker container
  21. This is cool by sQuEeDeN · · Score: 3, Informative

    To be honest, I really like Slate. Read it every day. They are really quite independent, like when they bashed IE. This might be quite a non-news item, ultimately (I hope)

    --

    Recursive (adj.): see 'Recursive'
  22. Americans don't know what Neoliberal means by Cryofan · · Score: 1

    Most of them think it means socialist or something. I myself only found out what it means just a couple of years ago, when I was radicalized by the run-up and aftermath of the Iraq war. When I say "neoliberal," I mean it about the same way you do--a defender of or a participant in unrestrained capitalism or corporatism.

    --
    eat shiat and bark at the moon
  23. IE? by bach37 · · Score: 1

    Apparently, Microsoft wants to focus on its core incompetencies.

    Internet Explorer? :)

  24. Reasons to read Slate by akratic · · Score: 5, Informative

    Who reads Slate? I do...obsessively. Some reasons why:

    • Dahlia Lithwick's blow-by-blow accounts of Supreme Court arguments provide much more detail and insight than you'll find in a newspaper. Take a look at this report on the medicinal marijuana case .
    • "Explainers" provide interesting background information on recent news, such as this article on dioxin poisoning, published after the recent events in the Ukraine.
    • Their editorials and analyses are both carefully thought out and bolder than what you'll typically see in print--sometimes to the point of being a bit disturbing, like this article advocating "minimally invasive" interrogation techniques. (For the record, I don't agree with this article, but I found it thought-provoking.)

    Slate isn't a substitute for reading a newspaper, but if you want to get more insight into what's going on, it's a good place to look.

    1. Re:Reasons to read Slate by prockcore · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I read slate for 4 reasons.

      Cagle's political cartoon agregator. I can read 50 different political cartoons in about 10 minutes.

      Explainer is awesome.. it actually addresses the questions that most paper's gloss over (like that story about Insulin usage in the olympics.. Explainer was the only place I'd seen that actually explained *why* athletes would even want to use insulin)

      In Today's Papers is a great way to see what the lead stories are in the washington post, nytimes, latimes, and other places.

      Ad watch.. reviewing television ads.. brilliant!

    2. Re:Reasons to read Slate by Matt_Joyce · · Score: 1


      "Explainer is awesome.. it actually addresses the questions that most paper's gloss over (like that story about Insulin usage in the olympics.. Explainer was the only place I'd seen that actually explained *why* athletes would even want to use insulin)"

      um, this is what search engines are for, finding stuff out.
      Why wait for some editor to decide to run a story ? ...that said, I will be looking at Slate, based on yours and others positive comments. thanks.

  25. Cagle.Slate.msn.com by Utopia · · Score: 1

    I am regular visitor to Cagle.slate.msn.com

    I wonder what is going to happen to this political cartoon site.
    There is no mention of Cagle in the news media.

  26. No Funny mods? by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 1

    Surely that post must be parody. I mean, "citizen-journalists of the blogsphere".

    --
    Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
  27. Re:Do these sites make any money? by 808140 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You're under the mistaken impression that the media sells news. No, I'm not being faecetious.

    Actually, the media sells people. You, the reader, are not their customer -- you are their product. Advertisers are their customers. The cost of printing newspapers (which typically sell for 25-35 cents for daily in the US) is not even remotely covered by their retail value. Once, perhaps, but not today.

    You just don't understand their motivation. Adverts on-line and adverts on dead trees both do the same thing -- on-line adverts might be even better, because they're much more dynamic (but perhaps also easily blocked).

    Anyway, think about it.

  28. 1974 called... by Trespass · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...and they want their paper of record back.

  29. "Windchill" is a psychological phenomenon by dolphin558 · · Score: 1

    No, the windchill factor is a unique phenomenon known to man. The effect of wind on the body's perception of temperature is intangible yet shared by all human beings. Pretty interesting stuff.

  30. How many visitors do independent blogs get? by Caseyscrib · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm curious as to how many visitors independent news sites get, including sites like slashdot, fark, democracynow, kuro5hin, etc. Is it anywhere close to the 4.5-4.8 million slate and Washington post get, or do most people just think "getting their news online" means going to cnn.com?

    1. Re:How many visitors do independent blogs get? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Check out Taco's journal for /. readership figures.

    2. Re:How many visitors do independent blogs get? by prockcore · · Score: 1

      Slashdot gets roughly half a million unique visitors a day.

      Of those, maybe 10% actually read the article. We've been slashdotted many times (our site has always fared well against the traffic, we've maxed out our 40gig pipes a few times before, but now timewarner and qwest will dynamically scale our pipes as needed), and our increase in unique visitors is only about 20,000-40,000 unique visitors.

      What's impressive is that washingtonpost has 4.5 million unique visitors *and* they have registration.

    3. Re:How many visitors do independent blogs get? by ArtStone · · Score: 1

      A visitor who hits the "Sorry, you need to register to read this item" and doesn't register would still be counted as a visitor.

      Since Drudge fairly regularly posts links to the Washingont Post, it may have just reflected which day they counted.

      Drudge shows 8 to 10 million views a day, but that needs to be tempered because auto-refresh forces a reload every few minutes to pick up the flashing red light when a big story breaks.

      Having advertised there for a brief period, my logs make it clear that many people in govt and media locations leave their computer on Drudge 24x7, so CPM ads are being counted on computers where nobody is home or is across the news room. He has also gone to flash-only ads since it is so easy to block regular ads and popups in Firefox.

      The Blogosphere and more outlets that will email you breaking news is replacing his importance for knowing about breaking news. Drudge is going to jump the shark in 2005.

      --
      Final 2006 "Proof of Global Warming" US Hurricane Count -> 0
  31. Damn that Washington Post... by ral315 · · Score: 1

    Buying up other companies in direct competition with them...oh, wait.

  32. Instapundit by rlp · · Score: 2, Informative

    I just checked the numbers over at Instapundit and they work out to about 3.8 million visitors per month. So, Microsoft + "professional" journalists = 4.8 million visitors. One law prof + laptop + WiFi = 3.8 million.

    --
    [Insert pithy quote here]
  33. America is the CENTER of neoliberalism by Cryofan · · Score: 1

    No, you are the one who is wrong, not me. America is not nearly as much of a "democratic capitalist" regime as you claim. The countries of NW Europe and Canada are far more "democratic capitalist," in that the wealth is more evenly spread around. Neoliberalism is a system that has as its goal the concentration of increasing amounts of wealth dispersed into the hands of a decreasing number of people and corporations. Not too democratic a system, if you ask me....

    --
    eat shiat and bark at the moon
    1. Re:America is the CENTER of neoliberalism by lightknight · · Score: 1

      So, what you're saying is "democratic capitalism" is a new catch phrase for socialism. Interesting.

      You do realize that capitalism and democracy are two different ideas, right? And applied in the same arena (the market) they produce something that is neither?

      --
      I am John Hurt.
  34. Re:If you want a discussion not biased by crummynz · · Score: 1, Funny

    And if you don't want to be modded down to a -1 by a Slashdot moderator, you don't make off topic comments about the rating system.

    ...Oh. Damn.

    --
    ~ Crummy
  35. Pathfinder's Bab5 boards by identity0 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Jesus, I thought I was the only one that remembered Pathfinder. For those that don't know, Pathfinder was Time-Warner's attempt to create a service similar to AOL or CompuServe's portals, but on the web without a dial-up service. This was before they got swallowed up by AOL, way back in the early 90's. Apparently, they decided to lump everything owned by them under the "Pathfinder" name, from CNN to Loony Tunes to Babylon 5. It was a disaster, from most accounts.

    I was a regular on their Babylon 5 forum, and to this day I have great memories of the people there, and I prefer that board's layout to others like Slashcode and UBB. Unfortunately, Time-Warner basically thought of the boards as a place to get free PR and marketing, and their management of the boards was pretty poor.

    The admins did not do much to try to foster a community, and they often seemed to be fighting with the users. I remember they would occasionally delete some sections, and force changess on the board with no warning. It was like the whole BB system was just a forgotten corner of the T-W empire, and we were tossed about by high-level decisions of their marketing dept. The whole board ended up closing with short notice before the end of season 4, I believe. That's when I discovered the joys of Usenet and rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, but that's another story...

    Anyone here from the old Pathfinder Bab5 boards? I was ZoqFotPik, and that was my first BBS...

    1. Re:Pathfinder's Bab5 boards by Mycroft_VIII · · Score: 1

      Ahem, excuse me while I find my walker. FIRST BBS?!?!
      These web-form posting thingies might be called bbs's by young and culturally deprived, but they are NOT bbs's.
      BBS were each an independant computer system you called each seperately and quickly plugged in the modem (actually later on modems & terminal software had the ability to actually dial the numbers themselves!) and connected at 300baud, or 2400 if you were rich and lucky. This is of course assuming you didn't get a busy signal (by the early 90's some bbs's had as many 10-12 incomming lines, the luxury!)
      The closest you got to email back then was some bbs programs could call each other at some specific time of night and exchange messages, if you were lucky it only took just over 24 hours to get a reply.
      If these places were real bbs's you would have games online to play (no trolling don't count) some way to msg the sysop (guy who owns the comp the bbs is running on) for a chat and even a files section (sorta like ftp, but not so automatic in most cases).
      Not to mention you had good odds of actually being able to meet the people you were chatting with in REAL life because most people called bbs's that were local numbers rather than long distance.

      Now I'm mostly trying to be funny, but it dose kinda grate like fingernails on a chalkboard to hear web-forums called bbs's when I have such a clear,fond, memory of what a 'real' bbs is.

      Mycroft

      --
      https://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4c3ed6600b6ea
    2. Re:Pathfinder's Bab5 boards by dunng808 · · Score: 1
      The closest you got to email back then was some bbs programs could call each other at some specific time of night and exchange messages, if you were lucky it only took just over 24 hours to get a reply.

      Ah yes, FidoNet. I must say I never got any SPAM on FidoNet.

      The BBS craze began with hackers eager to receive neat utilities and games, and the best way to receive is to give. Membership was usually free. A primitive forerunner of BitTorrent.

      The BBS scene really blossomed with the introduction of adult boards. These were not so much for downloading pics as for swapping fantasies and meeting people who shared your kink. Image downloads had to wait for higher resolution displays, afforable scanners, and higher bandwidth. By then, AOL and the Internet had taken over. Eventually, and many would say regretably, these would merge.

      --

      Gary Dunn
      Open Slate Project

    3. Re:Pathfinder's Bab5 boards by Mycroft_VIII · · Score: 1

      Yeah I miss those days, to tell the truth I didn't use fido's much. just a couple of local wwiv boards, some color64 boards, and of course the mtabbs systems (a local thing, not more than 10 of them ever running that I know of, part of a cs students bs degree work from rolla, ran on a 'trash 80' mkIII).
      More of a community back then it seems. but I suppose simular communities have sprung up on the web somwhere, just don't seem as tight as when it was mostly people in the same area code.

      Mcyroft

      --
      https://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4c3ed6600b6ea
    4. Re:Pathfinder's Bab5 boards by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      BBS's were a lot of fun in many ways far more interesting then using the Internet. in BBS's the community was tight compared to the Internet. You saw someones handle from BBS to BBS you knew it was the same person. But on the Internet there are probably thousands of other people using my handle. Also due to the fact that BBSs were all a telephone call away you usually meet people within a 20-30 mile radius of you. The Internet you are lucky if it is the same state.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    5. Re:Pathfinder's Bab5 boards by Mycroft_VIII · · Score: 1

      One of the reasons I liked the mtabbs (Mikes Totally Awsome BBS) boards was from some of the get-togethers we had.
      On guy who looked like yoga guru in his fifties who could outskate (roller not inline or other) most anyone at the skate rink and rebuilt old mini's and baby mainframes as a hobby, the really cute girl that was Mikes sister (I think she was Mikes little sister, eigther that or one of the other sysops) one short, overweight, punk-rock bible thumper type (the nice type, not the shove it in your face type) who's boyfreind used the handle Lucifer. ahh the memories.

      Mycroft

      --
      https://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4c3ed6600b6ea
  36. Bad timing? by povvell · · Score: 1

    The Muddled Maternal Murder Series A Washington Post investigation loses its way. By Jack Shafer Posted Monday, Dec. 20, 2004, at 7:21 PM PT Bad timing dude. Perhaps Jack should start checking the job ads?

  37. Yo! by tjstork · · Score: 1

    Since when does a daily newspaper cost 25 cents? Most are at least 50 cents if not a dollar.

    --
    This is my sig.
    1. Re:Yo! by Reignking · · Score: 1

      Actually, the WPost was only .25 for the longest time, and was just bumped up to .35 in the recent past.

      --
      One man's Funny is another man's Offtopic.
  38. Slate pioneered the use of hyperlinks? (NYT) by E+IS+mC(Square) · · Score: 1

    Another NYT article says :"Although Slate has never achieved steady profitability, it is credited with helping to shape Web publishing as well as pioneering the use of hyperlinks and Web logs."

    What? Did I just pioneer the use of hyperlinks?

  39. checking out new purchase by slapout · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can see it now:

    * This story is posted to slashdot
    * Slate gets slashdotted
    * The head of the washington post wants to see this website they just paid "millions of dollars" for
    * "503: Service Unavailable!! "
    * "We paid what for this thing?"

    --
    Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
  40. Yo Yo Yo by MyLongNickName · · Score: 1

    Try looking at subscription prices, not news stand prices. That will be more in the quarter range.

    --
    See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
  41. Could WP have achieved the same goals more cheaply by geoffrobinson · · Score: 1

    From Jeff Jarvis' blog:

    Howard just called to get react from the two-headed hydra I am as Media Man by day and Blog Boy by night. I said it's a good thing for both; they fit well together, not unlike Dow Jones and Marketwatch. Kurtz said the Post's rationale is that it will bring them more traffic while they bring Slate better ad sales (and thus the first taste of profitablity, they hope).

    But I also said that the Post could have met the same goals without the cost and without the risk by establishing with a network of citizens' media, selling ads on and getting traffic from and extending their reach through the best blogs, which can then stay independent.

    That requires thinking in a distributed way and that's hard for the old centralized marketplaces to do.

    --
    Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
  42. citizen-journalists of the blogsphere by labyrinth · · Score: 1

    Wasn't that a Doc Smith novel?

  43. Slate sale could be bad, remember sidewalk.com? by mingrassia · · Score: 1

    Does anyone remember the site sidewalk.com from the mid 90's? It was a great site for local information on what is going on in your city (at the time I lived in NYC). The writing was excellent, eccentric and entertaining.

    Then MS sold it to Citysearch. Within a month they got rid of most of their good writers. What was once a fun and edgy site became a boring advert driven portal. It has not been the same since. To this day it has the all excitement of the yellow pages.

    I hope I'm wrong, but past experience does not look promising. Oh well, more time to read /. I guess :-)

    --
    OS X, Linux, Tivo, Amiga, my fascination with cult-like technologies would intrigue any psychiatrist.
  44. Anyone else wonder ... by Mr.Surly · · Score: 1

    ... why Neilson NetRatings even exist?

    I guess because it's SO difficult to determine if anyone is hitting your website, right? Sheesh.

  45. Re:Not Funny: "Washington Post" Site Blocked in Ch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Can we have a new moderation, (-1 Gratuitous anti-China slam)? You post something like this for every single article.

  46. Interesting side job by AvantLegion · · Score: 1
    I guess 7 years, $60 mil isn't enough to pay the bills for David Carr - he's gotta work for the NYT too.

  47. Slate VS Washington POST by alw53 · · Score: 1

    Slate: Home, News & Politics, Arts & Life, Business, sports, Technology, Travel & Foord.

    WashingtonPost.com:
    REGISTER NOW -- IT'S FREE AND IT'S REQUIRED

    Any theories why Slate gets more traffic?

  48. oops! That's the wrong URL for the zblog! by Cryofan · · Score: 1

    That was the url for zmag itself. Here is the ZBLOG url

    --
    eat shiat and bark at the moon