The Markup was co-founded by two former
ProPublica journalists,
Julia Angwin and , and executive and journalist
Sue Gardner. The project was announced in April 2018, with an expected launch in early 2019. In 2018, founder Angwin said the portal planned to collect and create public datasets through
public records requests, automated data collection,
crowdsourcing information, and creating tools. In April 2019, Gardner fired Angwin as editor-in-chief. According to Larson and Gardner, the reasons for Angwin's removal included disagreements over the non-journalistic responsibilities of Angwin's role as an executive, such as the organization falling behind in its hiring plans and the launch timeline. Larson was named as her replacement. In a letter to
Craig Newmark,
The Markups largest donor, Angwin asked him to intervene, claiming she was pushed out after resisting Gardner's attempts to change
The Markup's mission to "one based on advocacy against the tech companies." Six out of seven journalists on staff resigned following Angwin's ouster. Gardner denied changing the mission, telling
The New York Times, "We are, pure and simple, a news outlet, we always have been and always will be. Our goals and purpose haven't changed." In May 2019, Newmark announced that Gardner and Larson had left
The Markup, and there were reports about plans to bring back Angwin as editor-in-chief. On August 6, 2019,
The Markup announced that Angwin would return as editor-in-chief, along with
Nabiha Syed as president and much of the original team – but without Larson or Gardner. Syed was previously
BuzzFeed's associate general counsel and vice president. In 2022, Syed hired Sisi Wei, formerly of OpenNews and
ProPublica to become editor-in-chief, replacing Angwin. In February 2023, Angwin left
The Markup. In April 2024,
The Markup was acquired by nonprofit media outlet
CalMatters. Wei became the company's chief impact officer and Syed became a strategic advisor and will take on a new external role in July. At the time of the sale
The Markup had 28 employees and $5 million in philanthropic funding. == Funding ==