538....-30-

[garrow]

FiveThirtyEight is shutting down as part of broader cuts at ABC and Disney

https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/03/f...wn-as-part-of-broader-cuts-at-abc-and-disney/

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

What were the odds?

 

[FileNotFound]

Won’t be missed.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

What were the odds?

Take your like and get outta here.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Hey asshole, **** off.

 

[SoloFlyer]

Won’t be missed.

You may not like their poll analysis or projection process, but the team at 538 did a ton of legwork and data collection that numerous other respectable data journalists relied upon.

This is a massive loss for data journalism.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

You may not like their poll analysis or projection process, but the team at 538 did a ton of legwork and data collection that numerous other respectable data journalists relied upon.

This is a massive loss for data journalism.

I can't speak for File Not Found or anyone else, but I think any negative sentiment towards 538 is probably rooted in contempt of Nate Silver, even though we all know he's not there anymore. He tanked his entire legacy and reputation by becoming a right-wing shill and taking Peter Thiel's money. And he took his toys and left everyone else at 538 to deal with the inevitable closing of the site as well as his staining of their legacy.

 

[SoloFlyer]

I can't speak for File Not Found or anyone else, but I think any negative sentiment towards 538 is probably rooted in contempt of Nate Silver, even though we all know he's not there anymore. He tanked his entire legacy and reputation by becoming a right-wing shill and taking Peter Thiel's money. And he took his toys and left everyone else at 538 to deal with the inevitable closing of the site as well as his staining of their legacy.

While I agree that Silver's behavior has been incredibly annoying, he was pretty accurate again in his evaluation of the 2024 election - much to our disappointment.

He also isn't responsible for 538's demise. ABC/Disney had an opportunity to do something with it and didn't. The reason 538 bounced around from NYT to ESPN to the ABC side of Disney was because news organizations just don't want to pay for data journalism. It's not sexy. It's misunderstood (how many people were upset with Silver and 538 for their projection of the 2016 election without understanding how it actually worked?)

Opinions sell. Data doesn't. That's not Silver's fault. Him being a **** is just the disgusting icing on a moldy cake.

 

[dixiehack]

Bagging on 538 itself is like being mad at the weatherman that it stayed dry when there was a 50 percent chance of rain and then concluding that meteorology is pseudoscience.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Bagging on 538 itself is like being mad at the weatherman that it stayed dry when there was a 50 percent chance of rain and then concluding that meteorology is pseudoscience.

I was foolishly furious at Silver after 2016. I like to think my misplaced anger just had me ahead of the curve and aware of what was ahead!