Website Of The Week: Slate
Since its launch in June *(Microsoft To Provide Quality Journalism Online) Microsoft’s website, Slate, has received many awards and critical acclaim. The on-line magazine is Microsoft’s attempt to bring quality journalism to the Internet. The site features articles on culture, politics and public policy. Since its release Slate has accounted for approximately 10,000 readers per week, reading an average of 10 pages each.
Slate has a very professional, very brown corporate look with a simple logo and design layout. There are twenty-three pages divide into three sections; Contents, Briefing, Features and Back of the Book. Each page is headed with the Slate logo and has a banner advertising a product or company and links to the appropriate website.
Readers can go straight to the Contents section which lists the articles in the on-line magazine. The briefing section has all the week’s latest news and has a round-up of US magazines such as Time and Newsweek. Non-American readers may feel lost in the Features section as the articles focus around US issues such as politics and baseball. The interactive cartoon is an interesting idea, but the humour is very American. Lovers of literature and art should go to the straight to Back of the Book as this areas covers fashion, poetry, books , movies and opera. Back of the Book could be misleading for some as it tends to focus more on arts rather than popular issues. For example, Emma (not the ITV version) is featured in the movies section and not the likes of Independence Day and Twister which are currently breaking box office records.
Slate is designed to be a stand alone website (the first if its kind focusing on journalism) and has a monthly magazine supplement in the US. The site is on open access until November 1 1996 and thereafter, readers will have to subscribe. Slate is well designed and features some interesting articles. The advertising is very subtle, allowing the advertisements to blend in with the background while standing out at the same time. Slate’s fault is that it focuses heavily on American political issues which may deter non-Americans. Slate is a good example for the future of on-line journalism but it would be interesting to see just how many people will subscribe to it in November.
*MediaTel subscribers only
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