The New York Times (NYTimes.com)
today launched its new politics and policy website, The Upshot (NYTimes.com/upshot),
the goal of which is to help readers better navigate the news using
data, graphics and technology.
Edited by Pulitzer winner and former New York Times Washington Bureau
chief David Leonhardt, The Upshot delivers thoughtful explanation
and analysis to help readers deepen their understanding of major issues.
Graphics and interactives, built by The Times’s award-winning graphics
staff, are a central part of The Upshot’s work.
The Upshot will focus on politics, policy and economics, with a
particular emphasis on the 2014 elections, the state of the economy,
economic mobility and health care. In addition, the site will cover
education, transportation, climate and other issues, as well as writing
occasionally about sports and culture.
The Upshot’s first day of stories include two substantial pieces of
enterprise journalism. One compares income trends at different points on
the income spectrum – rich, middle class and poor – in various
countries, including the United States, Canada and major European
countries. The analysis – some of the first publically available data of
its kind – finds that the American middle class is no longer the world’s
richest, having been caught by the Canadian middle class. The poor in
much of Europe now have higher incomes than the poor in the United
States.
The second project is in an interactive forecasting model to analyze
every Senate race in the 2014 midterm election, based on polls,
fundraising data, political history and other factors. The model finds
that Democrats have improved their odds of retaining the Senate in
recent weeks. Although Republicans were slight favorites several weeks
ago, the campaign is now a toss-up, with the Democrats having the
smallest of edges. The Upshot is publishing all of the data and code
behind its model and welcomes feedback from readers and experts.
Amanda Cox and Josh Katz, both graphics editors and
members of The Upshot’s staff, are the primary architects of the model.
Jill Abramson, executive editor, The New York Times, said, “The Times
has always strived to answer the toughest questions and give context to
the most important issues affecting our readers. And now with The
Upshot, we look to an exceptional team of award-winning journalists and
graphics editors from our newsroom and beyond, to provide even more
analysis and explanation of the world we live in.”
The Upshot’s team of more than 15 journalists create content that
includes immersive interactives, data visualizations, prediction models,
quizzes and charts as well as photography and short- and long-form
articles.
All content featured in The Upshot is in front of the pay gate and free
to all New York Times readers at launch. Content will also be regularly
featured in the daily print edition of The New York Times.
Special features on The Upshot will include scoreboard-like data
visualizations, updated in real time, that give readers a way to
understand important and complicated national issues, such as the
midterm campaign, as well as HistorySource, a column by presidential
historian Michael Beschloss, which takes readers back in time
with photos and documents from notable points in history.
“We created The Upshot to serve as a destination for readers who want to
deepen their understanding of the issues and policies that influence
their daily lives,” said Leonhardt. “Using a conversational tone and a
rich stream of graphics and interactives, The Upshot will build on what
The Times already does so well—provide analysis of the news happening
all around us. We also invite our readers to become a part of the
conversation.”
Readers can follow The Upshot at Facebook.com/upshot
and @UpshotNYT
on Twitter.
Under Leonhardt’s guidance, The Upshot’s team of reporters, graphics
editors, economists, political scientists and contributors includes
seasoned Times journalists, as well as a number of newcomers and
contributors: editors Laura Chang and Damon Darlin;
graphics editors Amanda Cox, Kevin Quealy and Josh Katz;
reporters Josh Barro, Claire Cain Miller, Nate Cohn, Neil Irwin and
Derek Willis; photo editor Darcy Eveleigh; senior staff
editor Nadia Taha; copy editors Toni Monkovic and Kathleen
Flynn; and Marjorie Connelly, Megan Thee-Brenan, Allison Kopicki
and Dalia Sussman from The New York Times Polling Group.
Contributors include: the historian Michael Beschloss; the
political scientists Lynn Vavreck and Brendan Nyhan; and
the economists Sendhil Mullainathan, Justin Wolfers, Austin
Frakt and Aaron Carroll.
The
New York Times is one of the world’s most influential news
organizations with numerous news bureaus around the New York region, the
nation and the globe. The Times is known for accuracy, depth and
authority and produces award-winning journalism, breaking news coverage
and opinion and commentary along with deep databases of content and rich
multimedia presentations. The Times has won 114 Pulitzer Prizes and
Citations, far more than any other news organization. Follow
The Times on Twitter at @NYTimes.
Copyright Business Wire 2014