My new column describes the innovations in data-based storytelling that are emerging from the sportswriters for ESPN's Grantland site and suggests what lessons they might suggest for political and policy coverage. Here's how it begins:
We’re in a boom time for analytical Web journalism that uses data to make politics and policy compelling to readers. Since parting ways with The New York Times, Nate Silver has been hiring staff in preparation for launching an expanded FiveThirtyEight site under the Disney corporate umbrella. At Silver’s former home, meanwhile, David Leonhardt is heading up a new data-focused project that will cover economics, politics, sports, and more. And just this morning, Wonkblog creator Ezra Klein announced that he is leaving The Washington Post for what is likely to be a large-scale independent venture.
Even though it doesn’t cover politics and policy, there’s another publication that belongs in this discussion: Grantland, the ESPN-owned sports and pop culture site. Like Wonkblog and FiveThirtyEight, Grantland is a largely independent satellite of a larger media brand; it was spun off from ESPN under the direction of editor Bill Simmons and given significant creative freedom to experiment with format and content. And though the site may be best known for its long, writerly features (including a spectacularly ill-conceived story on the inventor of a new golf putter last week), its most notable contribution to the visual grammar of the Internet may come from the young contributors to its sports coverage, who are developing creative ways to combine stats-based analysis, commentary, and illustrative visual examples. While this approach is a natural fit for sports coverage, it offers lessons for coverage of politics and policy as well.
For more, read the whole thing.