Nate Silver Out At ABC News, FiveThirtyEight Amid Disney Layoffs
Nate Silver is leaving ABC News and FiveThirtyEight.
Silver addressed readers in a tweet on Tuesday, citing ongoing layoffs. He says will finish out the short duration that remains on his contract:
ABC News expects to retain FiveThirtyEight, an analytics vertical, but plans to downsize the operation.
“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 to The Hollywood Reporter.
"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.”
Disney purchased FiveThirtyEight in 2008 to pair alongside Bill Simmons' Grantland vertical on ESPN.com. Disney then transferred the vertical to ABC News in 2018, where it was a more natural fit.
The site is best known for forecasting presidential elections, though not always accurately.
Silver's political analysis eventually morphed into an on-air presence across ABC News as a "special correspondent."
So the upcoming 2024 presidential election should serve as good timing for Silver to rebound elsewhere.
Silver could launch a Substack or forecast primaries for Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, or The New York Times, where he previously wrote.
Nate Silver Was Part Of Disney For Nearly 10 Years
At Disney, Silver won't be the only notable name to depart this week. The company is in the midst of round two of three planned layoffs this year.
In June, layoffs will include on-air talents at ESPN. We recently discussed who at ESPN could be vulnerable.
“I had been worried about an outcome like this and so have had some great initial conversations about opportunities elsewhere," Nate Silver concluded.
"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."