New Business Web Site Offers Witty and Creative Analysis; Plus Engaging Tools, Interaction

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2008—The Slate Group today launched The Big Money (www.TheBigMoney.com), a business site that provides intelligent and informative commentary and analysis that is both relevant to a user's everyday life and sophisticated enough for a veteran in the financial community. The Big Money will cover the intersection of business and a variety of areas including technology, green initiatives, media, fashion, and food.

"The Big Money is a natural extension for the Slate brand. We've found that Slate reaches a large business audience, and we wanted to provide that audience with even more of our clever, interesting take on business headlines," said Jacob Weisberg, chairman and editor-in-chief of The Slate Group. "The creation of The Big Money lets us build upon Slate's approach to business news with more detail and incredible speed and interaction, with the goal of making business journalism just as innovative, engaging and addictive as other kinds of media."

Former deputy managing editor of CNN Money James Ledbetter Jr. will be editor of The Big Money. Elinor Shields, former managing editor of the Huffington Post, joins the site as deputy editor. Both Ledbetter and Shields have assembled a group of leading writers to contribute regularly to the site including Slate columnists Daniel Gross and Tim Hartford; economists James K. Galbraith and Jeffrey Sachs; and authors Eric Pooley, Alissa Quart, and Liza Featherstone. The Big Money will enable comments throughout the site, allowing users to have an open dialogue with writers.

"The Big Money is using the Web to package business journalism in a unique, compelling way that has rarely been done before. We believe we are offering something new by creating a destination with useful, entertaining news and analysis, in addition to highly interactive tools users might not ordinarily see in this genre," said Ledbetter.

The Big Money hopes to bring clarity to the complexities of business and finance by providing useful tools and context from the everyday to the obscure. The Big Money will widgetize many of its features and embrace other forms of social media. Some of the one-of-a-kind interactive features on the site include:

• The SRI Stock Screener ranks companies based on criteria of social responsibility such as environmental performance and human rights using research and analytics from IW Financial.
• We Build Your Presentation is a module that lets users suggest and download useful business presentations built by editors and contributors of the site.
• YouTube BrandWatch will feature a corporate-themed video that has been widely viewed on YouTube, and users can rank the video on its effectiveness at conveying a brand's message.
• "Money Talks" is a podcast featuring a clever, amusing review of the week in business similar to Slate's political and cultural "Gabfest."

Other content on the site includes video produced by Slate V, a daily calendar of business events, and a morning roundup of financial headlines from other media. Among the blogs on the site is one that focuses on Google news and another that tackles the complications within the food industry.

"The Big Money pairs a leading team of business journalists and social media experts with truly innovative tools to create a unique site that will appeal to the novice and expert alike," said John Alderman, Slate's publisher and general manager of The Slate Group. "We're thrilled that we've already made an impact in the marketplace and that Infiniti and American Express have signed on as launch sponsors. Their support is critical, and we look forward to extending their brands across our valuable audiences."

For more information, visit www.TheBigMoney.com.

About The Slate Group

The Slate Group is an online publishing subsidiary of the Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) that produces savvy Web-only publications that are provocative and engaging. Reaching a combined audience of more than 6 million unique users per month, its suite of Web sites includes Slate magazine, Slate V, TheRoot.com, and, most recently, The Big Money.

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Contact:
Jennifer Lee
Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive
703.469.2671
jennifer.lee@wpni.com