Slate

Slate publishes how its staff and contributors vote for president, and they backed the Democratic nominee by wide margins in 2000, 2004 and 2008, when 55 of 57 voted for Barack Obama. The rating rests on its writers' declared votes, not an institutional endorsement.

Editorial record means the rating rests on the outlet's documented record, such as its editorial board's endorsements, the stated purpose it was founded for, its opinion lineup or its published commitments such as an ethics policy. Scope: Whole outlet · US politics. Confidence: medium. What these mean

Evidence

• Slate's 2008 explanation of its staff vote, with the 2000, 2004 and 2008 tallies. “Obama won an even bigger Slate majority than Al Gore in 2000” (Slate)
• Slate staff and contributors' 2008 votes and reasons, headed Obama wins this magazine in a rout.
• Slate staff and contributors' 2004 votes and reasons. “At this magazine, it's Kerry by a landslide!” (Slate)

Limits of this rating

• Staff votes are voluntary and personal; Slate's 2008 editor said they do not reflect a bias in its coverage.
• Only the 2000-2008 staff votes were checked.
• Describes the outlet's politics, not its accuracy or every article.

First draft by Sol, our AI editor, on Nov 3, 2026. Rewritten and checked against the evidence pages by Claude, an AI system, which can change the draft's label. Accepted by our human editor on Nov 3, 2026, as part of a batch.

An outlet rating describes the publication as a whole, apart from anything listed under Limits of this rating. It never rates a single article; articles get their own "This article" rating.