FiveThirtyEight

Seeking to expand on his well-deserved status as one of the nation’s most trusted and widely read data-driven journalists, former New York Times reporter and blogger Nate Silver recently relaunched his popular FiveThirtyEight brand as a stand-alone destination for intelligent research and commentary on the news, trends, and big events of the day, drawing on like-minded writers and a crack technology partner in 10up to realize his vision.

As Silver moved from The New York Times to ESPN and began laying out his vision for a collaborative journalism project with a home on the web, ESPN turned its partners in the recent launch and ongoing support of Grantland, including 10up, to lead the design and buildout of the new FiveThirtyEight site, as both brands share a similar blend of intelligent commentary on current events and personality-driven reporting.

While other emerging brands in data-driven journalism are relying on proprietary systems to publish and manage content, FiveThirtyEight is instead built on WordPress, enabling significant advantages in the highly-competitive long-form journalism landscape.

Taking advantage of rapid development cycles, integration with other ESPN brands and platforms, and top-notch publishing experiences for the site’s expanding editorial team, the new FiveThirtyEight is built on much more than a standard WordPress implementation. The site enables editors to create and publish articles with interactive data visualization tools that work on all screen sizes and devices. Featuring unique, personality-driven verticals that combine respected writers with distinct categories, the new FiveThirtyEight is a fast, responsive, and focused destination that places Nate Silver and his team’s sharp, thoughtful, and timely content at the center of the site, whether consumed on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop—in the office, on the couch, or on the go.

For its part in the project, 10up executed a cross-device build and launch of the new FiveThirtyEight site following an aggressive and highly collaborative development sprint on a tight timeline.

A brand at the center of so many conversations online (and beyond) needs a rock-solid infrastructure, and for that critical aspect of the launch, 10up and ESPN turned to WordPress.com VIP to deploy the site on its worldwide enterprise hosting platform. As experts in supporting the high-traffic fluctuations and security requirements of national and international publishers, WordPress.com VIP is the ideal choice to support both the high-profile launch as well as the next phase of FiveThirtyEight’s growth.

10up continues to partner with ESPN and Exit31 (the boutique banner shared with FiveThirtyEight, The Undefeated, and the retired Grantland), as well as FiveThirtyEight itself, providing ongoing strategic guidance, design, and engineering services to help the site evolve to keep pace with—and perhaps even predict?—evolving reader preferences for smarter, more in-depth reporting on pop culture, politics, and the big events shaping our conversations.