Overview
- In a lengthy Substack post, Silver said Disney and ABC wiped FiveThirtyEight’s online history.
- He estimated the deletion erased roughly 200,000 person-hours of reporting and analysis.
- Silver said he tried to buy the archive a year or two earlier and was told to “get lost.”
- He argued Disney never tried to make the site a viable business, including rejecting a paywall.
- His account also recounts a near-sale to The Athletic in 2018 before ABC News kept the brand.