Slate
U.S. center-left
Background
Slate launched in 1996 as one of the first web-native magazines, founded by journalist Michael Kinsley with backing from Microsoft, where it was originally hosted as part of the MSN network. Microsoft sold Slate to The Washington Post Company in 2004, and it has been run since 2008 under The Slate Group, an online-publishing subsidiary later folded into Graham Holdings after that company sold the Washington Post itself to Jeff Bezos in 2013. Slate built its identity on contrarian, argumentative commentary alongside reported journalism, and it was an early adopter of paid membership (Slate Plus) and podcasting as revenue streams alongside advertising. It has drawn criticism at times for deliberately provocative or 'contrarian' takes, and like much of digital media it has faced revenue pressure and periodic layoffs as advertising has declined. Its politics and culture desks lean liberal, and its opinion writers are generally more consistently left-leaning than straight-news outlets, though its reporting is distinguishable from its commentary. Media-bias monitors typically rate it left-of-center. Since January 2025, its coverage of the Trump administration has been marked by sharp criticism across beats including press freedom, regulatory rollbacks, and health and education policy.
Sources
- Slate (magazine) — Wikipedia
- Graham Holdings — Wikipedia
- Slate Media Bias — AllSides
- Slate: Donald Trump tag
- White House press pool: Trump's ban on CNN, Politico, and MS NOW
- Slate about us
Profile compiled 2026-09-24; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.