Clean Slate?

Why is it so damn hard to attract an audience to high-brow magazine websites like Slate? When did great writing, deep reporting, insightful commentary, and intellectual nourishment become radioactive? Wall Street Journal: "Since its mid-1990s launch, the online magazine Slate has been a study in whether a Web-only news organization can support a staff of professional journalists churning out original, reported content. This week, Slate signaled the goal remains out of reach: It laid off a number of key employees, including its media critic, Jack Shafer, arguably the site's best-known voice. ... In July, Slate drew 6.5 million unique visitors in the U.S., down about 6% from a year earlier." I simply don't understand it. Albert Camus said, "At any street corner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face." Well, I just got decked on mine.

Some sample Slate stories:
- Planet of the Apes? Not anytime soon (ape brainpower is a problem)
- Rise of the Twins: Science, history and culture of multiple births.
- Weather and War: El Niño may be to blame for recent global conflicts.
- Shut Up and Kiss Me: Great Magnum photos of smooching

Some sample stories on (the wildly popular) Huffington Post:
- Giant Rat Killed With Pitchfork In Brooklyn
- Rashida Jones: 'I Tried To Kiss As Many Girls As Possible'
- Anderson Cooper's Craziest Stalker
- Photos: Celebrity Look-A-Likes

So, Slate is circling the drain while HuffPo may skyrocket to fame and fortune. What's wrong with this picture? I hold no brief against Arianna's HuffPo. It is what it is. But it seems philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer got it right when he concluded: "In the sphere of thought, absurdity and perversity remain the masters of the world, and their dominion is suspended only for brief periods."