Washington - The Washington Post on Monday launched a new daily online magazine called "The Root," which the company hopes to use to "[raise] the profile of black voices in mainstream media." The brainchild of Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Post chairman Donald Graham, The Root will focus news and issues important to African-Americans, and also include tools to help readers build their family trees. HBO has signed on as a founding sponsor of The Root, and MSN has signed a deal to regularly feature links to the magazine's articles on its homepage.