Readers only knew him as “poblano.” …...
A baseball statistician by day, the mysterious writer started dipping his toes in the political waters in a data-filled Daily Kos blog post published at 2:10 a.m., Nov. 1, 2007, titled “HRC Electability in Purple States.”
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He soon had a loyal audience, and started FiveThirtyEight — named for the number of votes in the electoral college — in March 2008. That May, he revealed his identity.
“It just ain’t very professional to keep referring to yourself as a chili pepper,” Nate Silver wrote in an article headlined, “No, I’m not Chuck Todd,” referencing the NBC host and political editor.
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With the end of Silver’s contract and his time running out at FiveThirtyEight “soon,” it is unclear what he will do next. More than half the FiveThirtyEight newsroom was laid off Tuesday, according to the outlet’s own reporters. Silver said he’s had “great initial conversations about opportunities elsewhere.”
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A huge name in the media has been swept up in the massive cuts at Disney. Nate Silver, founder of the data-driven news site FiveThirtyEight, tweeted Tuesday, “Disney layoffs have substantially impacted FiveThirtyEight. I am sad and disappointed to a degree that’s kind of hard to express right now. We’ve been at Disney almost 10 years. My contract is up soon and I expect that I’ll be leaving at the end of it.”
He added, “I had been worried about an outcome like this and so have had some great initial conversations about opportunities elsewhere. Don’t hesitate to get in touch. I am so proud of the work of FiveThirtyEight staff. It has never been easy. I’m so sorry to the people impacted by this.”
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ABC News is expected to keep the FiveThirtyEight brand name, with plans to streamline the site and make it more efficient.
“ABC News remains dedicated to data journalism with a core focus on politics, the economy and enterprise reporting — this streamlined structure will allow us to be more closely aligned with our priorities for the 2024 election and beyond,” an ABC News spokesperson said in a statement. “We are grateful for the invaluable contributions of the team members who will be departing the organization and know they will continue to make an important impact on the future of journalism.”
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