> Societal value != journalistic value

That's fair. I was responding to ways I've heard Nate Silver talk about the model and polling in general in e.g. podcasts, which is why I've had the question floating around in my mind. But you're right, that's not quite what he wrote here.

> And in fact, even if there's a net negative societal value that doesn't mean it shouldn't be around.

To be clear: I don't mean to imply that FiveThirtyEight shouldn't exist. There's lots of things which serve a human desire but aren't necessarily a social good. Slot machines for example.

The big value of polls is a backup check for discrepancies. A major difference between final polls and polls leading up to the election could be innocent (like unexpected demographics), but it could hint at voter suppression or even completely innocent issues with the voting systems. Paired with exit polling, there's enough information to find answers.