ABC News has taken all FiveThirtyEight articles offline (twitter.com)

Article summary

ABC News has taken all FiveThirtyEight articles offline, sparking discussion about the motivations behind this decision. The site was previously sunset by ABC over a year ago, but the removal of old content is a new development. The FiveThirtyEight GitHub repository remains available. The decision has been met with surprise and criticism from fans of the site.

Main themes

• Media ownership and control
• Content preservation
• Corporate decision-making
• Fiduciary responsibility
• Media deregulation

What commenters say

• The removal of FiveThirtyEight articles is a loss for accessible and informative content, and the motivations behind it are unclear.
• The decision to take down the articles may be a form of retribution against the site's founder, who had criticized ABC's management of the brand.
• The fact that ABC is willing to forgo potential profits from selling the FiveThirtyEight IP suggests that the decision is driven by personal or emotional factors rather than financial ones.
• The concept of fiduciary responsibility to shareholders is often misunderstood, and in reality, corporate officers and directors have more flexibility in their decision-making than is commonly assumed.
• The removal of the articles is a consequence of media consolidation and the prioritization of corporate interests over public access to information.
• The preservation of content is important, and the Internet Archive and other initiatives can help to fill the gap left by the removal of FiveThirtyEight articles.
• The decision to take down the articles may be seen as a form of censorship, and it highlights the importance of independent media outlets and diverse sources of information.