Microsoft's 'slate' tries to push pay model; advertising alone won't support...

Slate, Microsoft's esoteric pop online periodical, plans to adopt a subscription model soon that could require PC users to pay as much as $30 annually.

That's the latest word from Rogers Weed, Slate's publisher, who says the long-delayed strategy is an issue of necessity for the cultural/political publication. "We don't believe that the advertising-only approach is sustainable for us," he says.

Slate joins a growing roster of publications or publication services charging for information on the information-rich Internet. The Wall Street Journal's online ed