"The world is divided, as far as I can tell," said New Yorker writer and cultural critic Malcolm Gladwell, "between people who read Salon and people who read Slate."

via Slate - About us:

"Sites We Love" OMMA , 2/1/2005
SLATE: A brand born on the Web continues to raise the bar
It could be argued that online publications like Slate helped lay the groundwork for bloggers by offering provocative essays on politics, culture, art, business, and practically everything else. We love Slate's "Chatterbox," "Webhead," and its arts and lifestyle coverage. Its multimedia travelogs are splendid. Having started as an experiment in online journalism and advertising eight years ago, Slate burgeoned into a must-read, developing an influential readership and a cache' that was nurtured within Microsoft Corp., despite the fact that the property never did fit into the software maker's empire. Late last year, Microsoft sold Slate to the Washington Post Co. where we believe it is sure to prosper and strike appropriate synergies with the company's other sites.

Online Journalism Review (April 5, 2005)
Slate has made its mark not just with political reporting and insightful features, but with its people-powered aggregators like the groundbreaking Today's Papers and In Other Magazines. The concept is simple: Have a writer read other media and sum it up in a witty way for the time-challenged consumer. Taking on Weblogs makes a lot of sense for Slate, and they promise in their promos to deliver 'Five Million Blogs in Five Minutes.
-Today's Blogs is a lively read and largely focuses on the most popular A-list bloggers and the memes they are following.

National Review Online (June 10, 2005)
I asked [Dan Bartlett, White House communications director] what the most important blogs to read, from the White House's point of view, are. He said that in terms of what influences the mindset of the Washington media, Kausfiles, the Slate daily roundup of the papers, and Andrew Sullivan were crucial ones to keep up with.

--Kausfiles? discussion at Wikipedia: -Mickey Kaus is fairly notable -a very prominent blog on slate.com... frequently mentioned as one of the first political blogs

int: at end of Kausfiles page:
Drudge Report--80 % true. Close enough! Instapundit--All-powerful hit king. Joshua Marshall--He reports! And decides! Wonkette--Makes Jack Shafer feel guilty. Salon--Survives! kf gloating on hold. Andrew Sullivan--He asks, he tells. He sells! David Corn--Trustworthy reporting from the left. Washington Monthly--Includes Charlie Peters' proto-blog. Lucianne.com--Stirs the drink. Virginia Postrel--Friend of the future! Peggy Noonan--Gold in every column. Matt Miller--Savvy rad-centrism. WaPo--Waking from post-Bradlee snooze. Keller's Calmer Times--Registration required. NY Observer--Read it before the good writers are all hired away. New Republic--Left on welfare, right on warfare! Jim Pinkerton--Quality ideas come from quantity ideas. Tom Tomorrow--Everyone's favorite leftish cartoonists' blog. Ann "Too Far" Coulter--Sometimes it's just far enough. Bull Moose--National Greatness Central. John Ellis--Forget that Florida business! The cuz knows politics, and he has, ah, sources. "The Note"--How the pros start their day. Romenesko--O.K. they actually start it here. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities--Money Liberal Central. Steve Chapman--Ornery-but-lovable libertarian. Rich Galen--Sophisticated GOP insider. Man Without Qualities--Seems to know a lot about white collar crime. Hmmm. Overlawyered.com--Daily horror stories. Eugene Volokh--Smart, packin' prof, and not Instapundit! Eve Tushnet--Queer, Catholic, conservative and not Andrew Sullivan! WSJ's Best of the Web--James Taranto's excellent obsessions. Walter Shapiro--Politics and (don't laugh) neoliberal humor! Eric Alterman--Born to blog. Joe Conason--Bush-bashing, free most days. Lloyd Grove--Don't let him write about you. Arianna's Huffosphere--Now a whole fleet of hybrid vehicles. TomPaine.com--Web-lib populists. Take on the News--TomPaine's blog. B-Log--Blog of spirituality! Hit & Run--Reason gone wild! Daniel Weintraub--Beeblogger and Davis Recall Central. Eduwonk--You'll never have to read another mind-numbing education story again. Nonzero--Bob Wright explains it all. John Leo--If you've got political correctness, he's got a column ...