Dear friends,
This week is a huge moment in Markup history.
Last Friday, The Markup was honored as one of the best newsrooms in the world, when the Online News Association awarded us their General Excellence award in the small newsroom category.
My heart swells every time I think about when the presenter read out:“Outstanding, actionable journalism that — given the subject manner — could not have come at a more consequential moment. The winner is The Markup.”
We’ve been a finalist for this award before in both 2022 and 2023. We’ve also won all sorts of awards that recognize our work.
But this is different.
It’s not about the glass-etched trophy (that has a point so sharp the TSA had to manually inspect my luggage as I was flying home).
It’s about how our unique vision for journalism, The Markup model, is transforming and leading the landscape of modern journalism. We’d love you to support our transformative work today with a donation.
We started with a unique concept: Our newsroom would pair data journalists, technologists, and investigative reporters together to hold Big Tech accountable. We then grew our vision, expanding our mission to challenge all technology to serve the public good, and that we would measure our own success by the tangible impact we had on the world. We’ve transformed our journalism, and all the unique ways we pursue it, to create a world where we the people control technology, instead of being controlled by it.
Our stories aren’t just headlines, they lead to real change. People have used our journalism to expose and outlaw digital discrimination, identify what companies are sharing our private data and stopping them, and make seismic, industry-level changes to protect patient and consumer privacy, and much, much more.
The need for our investigations and tools has never been greater. We need your help to continue:
- Doing the relentless, data-driven reporting that reveals and organizes the messy guts of AI and other high-stakes tech.
- Building new tools that give people the power to stop bad things (like racist algorithms) and put in place good things (like transparency and consumer choice).
- Driving, through our journalism, democratic participation, built on meaningful partnership between local communities, newsrooms and experts.
For five years, The Markup has delivered groundbreaking investigative journalism that has exposed abuses, explained inscrutable tech, and facilitated public participation in controlling tech.
Your donation will help us continue our vital work.
I hope you will support us today, and by donating, I’m excited for you to become an official member of The Markup.
And, if you can, please consider a monthly donation so we can count on your support into the future.
Thank you for being on this beautiful journey with us, and for standing with independent journalism that serves the public good.
With gratitude,
Sisi