Popular polling aggregation site FiveThirtyEight.com will be relaunched under the New York Times umbrella, blogger Nate Silver announced today.
The site rose to prominence during elections in 2008 when Silver posted several very accurate predictions. Silver says the site will “retain its own identity (akin to other Times blogs like DealBook), but will be organized under the News:Politics section” of the Times . Of his new gig, Silver says :
I will be contributing content to the print edition of the New York Times , and to the Sunday Magazine. The partnership agreement, which is structured as a license, has a term of three years.
Silver explains why he felt a partnership with the Times is a good fit:
There are two particular reasons why we felt the Times was the best home for FiveThirtyEight. On the one hand, I very much see what we are doing as a type of journalism, in the sense that it consists of doing original research on a timely basis to help inform the public discourse. Thus, the Times’ unflinching commitment to quality journalism makes for a natural fit, and I expect that the relationship will evolve in exciting ways as FiveThirtyEight is incorporated into a “traditional” newsroom setting. On the other hand, the terrific work of their graphic and interactive journalists was a major draw. The new blog should look and feel great, and should be substantially more robust and feature-rich than the simple, one-page design that we have now.
Silver says the partnership should start in 9-10 weeks, and he mentioned “early August” as a possible launch date. Politico was quick to point out Silver’s left-leaning ideology and support of President Obama in the 2008 election, but in the context of Silver’s work and his ongoing clear disclosure of the affiliation, it doesn’t seem like it should be a massive concern for the Times.
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