4 ms·

Nate Silver and FiveThirtyEight Are on ABC’s Chopping Block

19 points by tantalor 4y ago

verdverm 4y ago
Their content quality took a big hit after they went from ESPN to ABC. They became noticeably biased in their reporting, using stats to tell a story rather than telling the story of the stats https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/abc-news-ffivethirtyeight-espn-nate-silver-1202755646/ https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/abc-news-ffivethirtyeight-e... I hope they can reinvent themselves and return to the methods and content that made them such a great source of insights
nickm12 4y ago
I've listened to the politics podcast for a number of years and follow the site moderately closely during election season, yet I don't feel like I'm a "fan". To steal the words of Steve Jobs, fivethirtyeight.com is a feature, not a product. There is only so much you can say about polls and data-based political analysis and for me it's not enough for a daily, or even weekly, visit to the site. Likewise the podcast tends to get repetitive—there is only so many times you can say "time will tell" before it begins to feel repetitive.
- maegul 4y ago
  Agree. I’m regularly surprised at how disappointed I am when I visit the site given how popular or how high its profile is. So often it’s content is some combination of boring, repetitive or uninspired.
- smt88 4y ago
  I think they have two major problems: 1) Their most unique and interesting content is only salient during major elections. 2) They don't want to be pundits. They want to be statisticians. For many of us, #2 sounds like a benefit. But the reality is that people want opinionated commentary. The core message of FiveThirtyEight is that everyone else is biased and over-confident. I think they're right, but it's not really entertainment.
lost_tourist 4y ago
lol imagine criticizing Nate Silver saying there was a high chance of a red wave when nearly 95% of all other sources said there would be one. He never said 100% at all from anything I read over there.
- kadoban 4y ago
  Yeah, for ref this was their forecast: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-election-forecast/ https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-election-forecast/ So, 27% chance of the outcome that happened, 57% chance of R winning both houses. Really not bad, considering, and _far_ better than most other places.
- jeegsy 4y ago
  > Nate was aware this was happening and by not addressing it he ended up contributing to misleading the American people about what was happening in the election Please observe closely the manner in which the accusation "misleading the American public" is deployed. Truly we are headed for dangerous waters in our public discourse if we are not there already. How was Silver supposed to address whatever it was???

19 points by tantalor 4y ago

Their content quality took a big hit after they went from ESPN to ABC. They became noticeably biased in their reporting, using stats to tell a story rather than telling the story of the stats https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/abc-news-ffivethirtyeight-espn-nate-silver-1202755646/ https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/abc-news-ffivethirtyeight-e... I hope they can reinvent themselves and return to the methods and content that made them such a great source of insights

nickm12 4y ago

I've listened to the politics podcast for a number of years and follow the site moderately closely during election season, yet I don't feel like I'm a "fan". To steal the words of Steve Jobs, fivethirtyeight.com is a feature, not a product. There is only so much you can say about polls and data-based political analysis and for me it's not enough for a daily, or even weekly, visit to the site. Likewise the podcast tends to get repetitive—there is only so many times you can say "time will tell" before it begins to feel repetitive.

maegul 4y ago
Agree. I’m regularly surprised at how disappointed I am when I visit the site given how popular or how high its profile is. So often it’s content is some combination of boring, repetitive or uninspired.
smt88 4y ago
I think they have two major problems: 1) Their most unique and interesting content is only salient during major elections. 2) They don't want to be pundits. They want to be statisticians. For many of us, #2 sounds like a benefit. But the reality is that people want opinionated commentary. The core message of FiveThirtyEight is that everyone else is biased and over-confident. I think they're right, but it's not really entertainment.

lost_tourist 4y ago

lol imagine criticizing Nate Silver saying there was a high chance of a red wave when nearly 95% of all other sources said there would be one. He never said 100% at all from anything I read over there.

kadoban 4y ago
Yeah, for ref this was their forecast: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-election-forecast/ https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-election-forecast/ So, 27% chance of the outcome that happened, 57% chance of R winning both houses. Really not bad, considering, and _far_ better than most other places.
jeegsy 4y ago
> Nate was aware this was happening and by not addressing it he ended up contributing to misleading the American people about what was happening in the election Please observe closely the manner in which the accusation "misleading the American public" is deployed. Truly we are headed for dangerous waters in our public discourse if we are not there already. How was Silver supposed to address whatever it was???