Slate to Launch "The Fray" 2.0, Redesign of Popular Discussion Area

April 2, 2007; 04:38 AM
Slate, the daily online magazine, today announced the upcoming redesign of its popular comments section called “The Fray.” The first-of-its-kind reader feedback forum has been extremely popular since its inception in 1996, and Slate’s readers drove the decision to revamp the section. They will also play a major role in how it gets redesigned.

“Redesigning ‘The Fray’ is an important part of strengthening our relationship with our readers,” said Jacob Weisberg, Editor, Slate Magazine. “Slate readers own ‘The Fray,’ so it is only appropriate for this to be a truly collaborative effort.”

The Fray’s community is full of devoted and intelligent readers who feel genuinely connected to the site and to each other. Beginning today, readers of the Fray will be able to actively participate in shaping the redesign by sharing their ideas and voting on the outcome. Throughout the course of the overhaul, Slate will have a “Fray 2.0” blog with contributions from Slate’s Publisher, its editors, technology experts and designers.

Cisco will be the exclusive sponsor of the redesign, beginning with this announcement today and running through the six-week dialogue with readers on how the section should be revamped. Cisco will continue to be the exclusive sponsor for the three months after the redesign launches.

“We wanted to find a sponsor that shared the same spirit of collaboration and conversation that ‘The Fray’ encourages on Slate,” said Cliff Sloan, Publisher, Slate Magazine. “Cisco’s vision of the power of the human network to transform how people communicate aligned perfectly with our goal, and as a result they’ve signed on as a supporter throughout the entire effort. We’re very pleased that Cisco is supporting this overhaul with the full involvement of our readers.”

The ads Cisco runs throughout the Fray will be designed to directly address their support of the Fray’s mission: building community through communication and will highlight the Cisco vision of the power of the human network to transform how people connect, communicate, and collaborate.

Slate is no stranger to innovations in advertising. The advertising publication Adotas recently wrote, “The [Slate] publisher's strategy exhibits respect for the intelligence of its readers while hoping in earnest to provide them with ads which can enrich the experience of the site.” Recent examples include the “PBS Ranch House,” which featured a mock homepage of Slate as it would have looked in the 1860’s, the Cool Capitals campaign created on behalf of four major European destination cities -- Amsterdam, Antwerp, Vienna, and Zurich (http://www.slate.com/coolcapitals/) and American Express’ Biz Box, where small business owners blog about their experiences and answer reader questions. (http://bizbox.slate.com/)

For more on “The Fray,” please visit us at http://fray.slate.com/?id=3936

About Slate

Slate Magazine is an award-winning Web site that offers fresh angles on stories in the news and innovative entertainment coverage. Slate won the 2006 and 2005 EPpy awards for Best Internet News Service (over 1 million monthly visitors) and the 2005 EPpy award for Best Internet Entertainment Service (over 1 million monthly visitors). Slate can be found on the Web at www.slate.com and is owned by The Washington Post Company. Slate attracts over five million unique visitors each month.