Slate, the online news and opinion magazine owned by The Washington Post Co., may launch a business news and opinion Web site, according to a source familiar with the matter. The site would be the latest in the growing ranks of business news outlets, joining other start-ups such as Conde Nast Portfolio, at a time when many U.S. magazines and newspapers are retrenching amid a prolonged advertising decline and falling circulation. Cliff Sloan, Slate's publisher, declined to comment on the Web site's plans.
The New York Observer reported Wednesday that the site is awaiting final authorization from Post Co. executives and that it could go live as early as next summer. Slate was launched in 1996 by Michael Kinsley, a former New Republic magazine editor and former host of CNN's Crossfire television program, as well as former editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times.
