Disney is cutting news jobs, and FiveThirtyEight, which was absorbed by ABC News and owned by Disney, is going with them. FiveThirtyEight employees were laid off this morning. It’s unclear what will happen to past projects and the brand itself, but I imagine those won’t stick around either.
From G. Elliott Morris, who took over after Nate Silver left:
As reported, the entire staff of 538 was laid off this morning. This is a severe blow to political data journalism, and I feel for my colleagues. Readers note: As we were instructed not to publish any new content, all planned updates to polls data and averages are canceled indefinitely. Huge loss :(
After the layoffs a couple years ago and the shift from the dot com address to an abcnews address, it seemed like this was where FiveThirtyEight was headed, but still. It’s sad for those who make data things.
At its peak, FiveThirtyEight got normal people interested in data and statistics, which is not an easy thing to do. Beyond politics, they provided a lens, a sometimes quirky one I especially enjoyed, that made it easier to understand how data played a role in the everyday.
So tonight, we pour one out for Fivey Fox.
