Video killed the blog star. Slate V, and the V could stand for Venice where the new offices are, launches with animated advice columnist, viral videos from around the net, Magnum photo montages and such Slate-yness, according to the editor's note. The Fray comments are few, but it's early days yet. MightyBest makes this point:

When someone is VERY stiltedly reading their clunky prose out loud, I just have to close the video and not watch anymore.

Editor Andy Bowers, came from NPR
where he ran the NPR/Slate collaboration. Bill Smee is the executive producer. He'd been at Discovery, Discovery Times and CNN.

With any luck, Slate will move away from offering the "print writers on camera" model (which makes the NY Times videos so dull) and into more original production.

However, Christopher Hitchen's rant about Islamic Rage Boy would have been a great video.