Slate Puts The Big Money Out to Pasture

Slate has ceased publication of its The Big Money business and economic news site, according to a memo published by Romenesko.

Slate editor in chief Jacob Weisberg and general manager John Alderman write:

The problem, in a nutshell, is that the site is not pointed toward profitability on a fast enough timetable. We’ve struggled to grow the site’s traffic to carry enough ad inventory to run a profitable business. There are some specific reasons for this slow growth which relate primarily to the category rather than to the quality of the magazine. Our timing also could have been better. TBM launched the week of the Lehman Brothers collapse in September 2008, and its existence has coincided with a deep trough in advertising market for business-oriented publications.

Weisberg and Alderman said that they expect Slate to enhance its own business coverage, and The Big Money’s URL will redirect to Slate’s business page. The Big Money editor Jim Ledbetter and publisher Brendan Monaghan will remain with The Slate Group.

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