The New York Times has a wildly swinging forecast needle that’s driving everyone insane
Twitter/Ryan McCarthy
The New York Times is capturing readers’ anxiety in real time with each bounce of its wildly swinging election forecast needle.
At the beginning of the night, the forecast heavily favored Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. But as results came in showing an unexpected lead for Donald Trump in key battleground states, the live forecast shifted towards Trump.
The real-time needle didn’t stay still for long. At times, the needle seemed to bounce unpredictably from Trump’s side to Clinton’s, and back.
Panicking readers took to Twitter after each dramatic oscillation, and eventually starting venting about the needle itself:
I’m taking a break. The stress of the uncertainty and that damn NYT needle is killing me. #ElectionNight
— Nick C (@nwchap) November 9, 2016
I imagine that NYT is going to get a whole lot of flack for this real-time panic meter tomorrow http://pic.twitter.com/BeWFZYHKcT
— Ryan McCarthy (@mccarthyryanj) November 9, 2016
The NYT needle jittering is going to be in my nightmares no matter what happens tonight.
— Daniel R. @ Home (@Daniel_Rosen) November 9, 2016
The New York Times eventually edited the election forecast post to acknowledge viewers’ concerns:
Has @nytimes caught on to Dems’ election-night hair-greying freakout? http://pic.twitter.com/EoDy3MrFHV
— Paul D. Shinkman (@PDShinkman) November 9, 2016
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