By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 22, 2004; Page C01

The Washington Post Co. said yesterday it is buying Slate in an effort to boost the media company's online traffic but does not plan any editorial changes at the eight-year-old Web magazine.

In announcing a deal to acquire Slate from Microsoft Corp. for an undisclosed sum, said to be in the millions of dollars, Post executives said they would keep Jacob Weisberg as editor and most of the 30-person staff.

Asked for reaction, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said by e-mail: "Mostly I'm really proud of Slate's pioneering role in online journalism, and confident it will continue to lead the way. As one of the early -- albeit minor -- participants in Slate's diary section, I'll always feel incredibly close to it -- and will definitely remain an avid fan and reader." He added: "Graduating to media ownership seemed the obvious next step for Slate, and I'm confident it will thrive wonderfully under The Post."

Weisberg pronounced himself "delighted" with the move. "Microsoft has been a great place for us for the last 8 1/2 years," he said, but "it was a tough place to develop our business because it wasn't a media company and doesn't want to be a media company. They're really big and we're really small. The joke was always that we're almost a rounding error, but a rounding error probably exaggerated our status."

Ann McDaniel, a Post Co. vice president, said: "Our goal is not to in any way change Slate. We think it's important that it keep its personality. Over time, we hope to find a business model that will make money. You're not suddenly going to see a different kind of Slate."

Jeff Jarvis, who writes a blog called BuzzMachine.com and is president of Advance Publications' Internet arm, called the sale "a smart move" because "The Washington Post has been in many ways clever and smart about online. It will support Slate in a good environment that understands media in a way that Microsoft, God bless them, which tried many times, didn't." Had the sale fallen through, Jarvis said, Microsoft "wouldn't necessarily have been a happy home" for Slate once "they already tried to give you up for adoption and failed."

As if to underscore Slate's independence, the magazine ran a piece yesterday by media columnist Jack Shafer that criticized a front-page Washington Post series on the murders of new and expectant mothers. "I was glad to whack the new master one more time," Shafer said yesterday, adding that he plans to continue doing so and has found that the newspaper "has a remarkably thick skin" about criticism.

The Post reported in July that Microsoft was looking for a buyer and that the leading contenders were The Post Co. and the New York Times Co. The Times did pursue a possible deal, according to people familiar with the matter. The Post's Web site already has an alliance with MSNBC.com, which is partly owned by Microsoft, and former Microsoft executive Melinda Gates, the wife of the company's founder, was named to the Post Co. board in September.

Cliff Sloan, general counsel of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, will become publisher of the money-losing magazine when the deal takes effect next month.

Scott Moore, general manager of MSN Network Experience, called the sale "bittersweet," saying: "It's a little like seeing your kid go off to college." But Microsoft now has "a mass-market publishing strategy," he said, and "Slate is more of a niche publication. Slate wasn't going to get as much attention as it really deserved."

According to Nielsen Net Ratings, washingtonpost.com drew 7 million unique visitors last month, compared with 6 million for Slate. Another service, ComScore Media Metrix, says washingtonpost.com drew 4.5 million unique visitors last month and Slate 4.8 million, but that people spend more time on the Post site: 120 million page views, compared with 25 million for Slate. Much of Slate's traffic is driven by being part of the Microsoft Network, whose home page will continue to feature Slate headlines. Post executives say that Slate's home page will include some reference to the newspaper's Web site and that washingtonpost.com will also promote certain Slate stories.

Sloan called the acquisition, which will become part of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, "a great fit" in part because advertisers could be offered a package that would include The Post and Newsweek sites as well as Slate. Post stock closed up $26.95 yesterday to finish at $960.01.

Slate was founded in suburban Seattle, where Microsoft is based, in 1996 when former New Republic editor and CNN commentator Michael Kinsley launched what was then an unusual experiment in online daily journalism. But the software giant and the liberal magazine proved to be an odd combination. Weisberg said it was difficult, for example, to pay freelance writers on a timely basis because "a company like Microsoft isn't geared to write a check for $400."

In editorial terms, Slate will be losing its Seattle flavor while keeping its offices in New York, where Weisberg works, and on Washington's M Street. While a few copy editors now based in Redmond, Wash., will work from home, several other Slate staffers, including publisher Cyrus Krohn, have decided not to move east.

Slate, which has competed with another liberal online journal, San Francisco-based Salon, has made a mark not just with feature articles but also with columns and digests such as "Pressbox," "Chatterbox," "Moneybox," "Kausfiles," and the "Dear Prudence" advice column. Slate also co-produces the National Public Radio show "Day to Day."

Given its Web-based DNA, Slate does some things differently than The Post. A week before the election, nearly all its editorial staffers, including Weisberg, disclosed that they were voting for John Kerry over President Bush. On Election Day, Slate posted leaked numbers from the early wave of exit polls made available to the networks, the Associated Press and such clients as The Post, something the newspaper would never do.

Asked if he was worried about editorial interference from the new owner, Weisberg invoked the name of The Post Co.'s chief executive. "Don Graham and everyone else we've dealt with at The Post Co. made very clear they wanted to buy Slate because they like the magazine the way it is," he said. "I don't think readers are going to notice much difference."

But Shafer, while positive about the sale, said Post executives would undoubtedly have some ideas about improving the editorial content.

"One of the enduring lies of media acquisitions is we don't want to make any changes," he said. "But that's been said here and I believe it." At the same time, "Slate is not so precious that it should be frozen in amber exactly where it is."