Afternoon report
IAmA blogger for FiveThirtyEight at the New York Times. Ask me anything.
Q: Nate, do you think most of the popular news sources (cable, network, newspapers) intentionally overlooked the data analysis from you and those like you in order to hype up the 2012 election?
A: News organizations tend to have incentives to “root for the story”. Part of what were were saying for much of the campaign — both at different stages of the general election and perhaps even more emphatically in the end-stage of the primary when Romney pretty much had things wrapped up — is that the outcome had become fairly certain. So that creates a bit of a culture clash. (reddit.com) | Edited transcript: (nytimes.com)
* LocalLeaks prepares to release “huge revelations” ahead of next month’s Steubenville rape trial. (theatlanticwire.com)
* Rupert Murdoch with BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti at CES. (@rupertmurdoch)
* New York Times got the gun-permit list that’s on Gawker, and sued. (capitalnewyork.com) | “Gawker link-baits.” (legalinsurrection.com)
* Hollywood sours on Facebook as a marketing tool. (latimes.com)
* A look at Alabama newspapers’ BCS title game special editions. (copydesk.org)
* Apple is working on a cheaper iPhone. (wsj.com)
* ESPN apologizes for Brent Musburger’s comments about Alabama QB’s girlfriend. (shermanreport.com)
* Glenn Beck is expanding The Blaze and hiring investigative reporters. (buzzfeed.com)
* The AP is selling ads in its tweets, but Twitter doesn’t mind. (niemanlab.org)
* “Tribune staff” comments on “Downton Abbey” season premiere mention of Chicago. (chicagoreader.com)
* Huffington Post loses producer Robert Green to Conde Nast. (observer.com)
