March 31, 2009

i want to know why you still read slate

Slate is too bored with ER to cover the final episode…

We have approached both staff writers and a series of reliable correspondents, inviting them to weigh in on the final episode and the legacy of the drama’s 15-year run. No one wanted the assignment.

…so they’re turning the job over to their readers and asking them to file reports on the series finale.

There’s a whole mess of interestingness packed into this little nugget (Slate’s wink wink nudge nudge that ER’s just not good enough for them to cover (but it’s fine if their readers do), the attempt at editorial direction for contributors, the obvious and lame poke at Clooney, the fact that I’m sure their readers will do a better job of it than they would have), but I’m just too busy to unpack it all.

Instead, I’m leaving it to you, my readers, to do the hard editorial work for me. Why do you still read Slate? Is Slate right for not covering the ER finale? Should they be paying more attention to culture that’s actually popular? Is their editorial voice as grating to you as it is to me? Leave all your thoughts on Slate not covering ER in the comments, and I’ll pick the best ones and repackage them as my own content in a future blog post!