Our biggest problem

The New York Observer recently interviewed Jacob Weisberg, chairman and editor in chief of Slate.com and its parent, the Slate Group. Since its inception in 1996, Slate has been lavishly praised as “awesome” editorially and “consistently smart.” That it is.

Unfortunately, Slate is lagging behind competitors such as Gawker, the Daily Beast and the Huffington Post, all of which feature content with decidedly less editorial heft. Gawker chief Nick Denton boasted to The Observer, "Our new layout is designed to showcase our strongest stories, but most of them are ones that Slate wouldn't go near." Yes, exactly. (As I write this, a top Gawker story includes this gem: “Sex Shop Lotto Ticket Holders Claim Prize.”)

Though Denton “gushes with praise for Slate,” he said:

"There's a limited audience for smart centrism. That's [Slate’s] biggest problem."

No, Mr. Denton, the biggest problem is a less informed citizenry, the inevitable result of Gawkerized journalism that panders to our baser instincts for the sake of page views and profit. Slate’s “smart centrism” is an elegant model to be emulated. But if the audience really is as limited as Denton suggests, then the real problem is not Slate, it is us.