Inaugural Issue of Slate New Interactive Magazine From Microsoft And Editor Michael Kinsley, to Debut Online Today

Located on the World Wide Web at http://www.slate.com

REDMOND, Wash., June 24, 1996 — Launched to bring thought-provoking, high-caliber journalism to the Internet’s World Wide Web, Slate
™
, an interactive magazine of politics, culture and public policy edited by Michael Kinsley, debuts online today. Beginning at noon Pacific Daylight Time, Slate will be available on the Web at http://www.slate.com .

In addition to the launch, Slate announced two unique arrangements. Individual copies of Slate on Paper, a monthly collection of highlights from Slate, will be for sale exclusively at Starbucks Coffee Co. locations, while TIME magazine will have exclusive rights to reprint material from Slate. Published by Microsoft Corp., Slate aims to provide a timely, decisive and nonpartisan atmosphere for politically and culturally engaged readers through a mix of editorial features, reviews, columns and interactive forums, all optimized for the online environment. With contributions from leading journalists, policy-makers, and political and cultural figures, Slate’s analysis and commentary on American politics and the arts will be updated online on a daily and weekly basis, as appropriate.
Noting that the word slate
“means nothing, or practically nothing,”
Kinsley observes in his inaugural column,
“We hope Slate will come to mean good, original journalism in this new medium.”

Editorial Focus and Content

Kinsley, former editor of The New Republic and co-host of CNN’s
“Crossfire,”
heads an experienced executive editorial team that includes Deputy Editor Jack Shafer, previously editor of SF Weekly and the Washington City Paper; Washington, D.C., editor Jodie Allen, former columnist and editor of the Washington Post Outlook section; and New York editor Judith Shulevitz, who previously served as deputy editor of New York magazine and editor of Lingua Franca.

The debut issue of Slate includes
“Jews in Second Place,”
a feature story by Atlantic Monthly’s Nicholas Lemann that asks what happens to the Jews when Asian-Americans become the
“new Jews.”
It also inaugurates the Committee of Correspondence, an e-mail discussion group moderated by Herb Stein, former head of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. This week Stein and his guests scrutinize the question,
“Does Microsoft Play Fair?”
Among the panelists are Microsoft Executive Vice President Steve Ballmer, computer journalist James Fallows and Microsoft critic James Gleick. Another Slate regular who appears in the first issue is cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty, whose work is familiar to readers of TIME, the Village Voice and the Washington Post.

Starbucks to Sell Slate on Paper at Retail Locations

Under an exclusive arrangement with Starbucks Coffee Co., single-issue print copies of Slate on Paper, a monthly collection of highlights from the online version of Slate, will be offered for sale at more than 700 Starbucks Coffee retail locations throughout the United States. Slate on Paper will be available to readers beginning later this summer, with a cover price of $3.

“I have personally been a fan of Michael Kinsley for years,”
said Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks Coffee.
“Starbucks is honored to play a role in Mike’s efforts to take journalism to a higher level, by providing Slate on Paper to our customers.”

TIME
Magazine to Reprint Slate Articles and Features

In addition, selected Slate articles and features will be republished in TIME, under an exclusive agreement with the magazine.
“TIME is thrilled to continue its relationship with Michael Kinsley and to be the print outlet for Slate,”
said Walter Isaacson, TIME’s managing editor.
“The digital revolution offers new ways to spawn and distribute ideas, and it’s exciting to be part of that process with a team as talented as Slate’s.”

“We are thrilled and flattered,”
noted Kinsley,
“that Starbucks and TIME have chosen to affiliate two of the best-known high-quality products in America with our fledgling enterprise.”

Pricing and Availability

Founded on the belief that a magazine of serious journalism can be self-supporting on the Web, Slate will be among the industry’s first online publications to seek subscription revenues from its readership. Slate will be available at no charge to all World Wide Web readers through Nov. 1, 1996. Annual subscription rates thereafter will be $19.95 for one year, or $34.95 for two. Members of MSN
™
, The Microsoft Network, will receive Slate at no charge.

Slate on Paper also will be offered for an annual subscription rate of $29.95 for 12 printed issues (United States only).

Slate http://www.slate.com is published by Microsoft Corp. Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

Microsoft, Slate and MSN are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The Microsoft Network is operated by Microsoft Corp. on behalf of Microsoft Network LLC.

Related Posts