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Aug. 6, 2019, 9:08 p.m.
Reporting & Production

The Markup is back, with Julia Angwin reinstated as editor-in-chief, a new leadership team, and the same reporters

Angwin is part of a new leadership team: Nabiha Syed, formerly associate general counsel at BuzzFeed, will be president, and Evelyn Larrubia, who was executive editor of Marketplace, will be managing editor.

In April, the future of The Markup, a nonprofit news site that aimed to explore the societal impact of big tech and algorithms, suddenly looked uncertain. Julia Angwin, the site’s cofounder and editor-in-chief, was fired by her two cofounders, Sue Gardner and Jeff Larson, and the site’s remaining editorial staff resigned in protest of Angwin’s firing. Journalists, academics, and others came down strongly on the side of Angwin, and the site’s funders — including Craig Newmark, who contributed $20 million for launch — pledged to look into the matter. In May, Larson and Gardner left.

On the first Tuesday in August, things appeared resolved, in a way that made Angwin’s fans and Media Twitter very happy: The Markup has received a “reboot,” The New York Times first reported, with Angwin back as editor-in-chief and joined by two new executives: President Nabiha Syed, who’d been vice president and associate general counsel at BuzzFeed, and managing editor Evelyn Larrubia, who was the executive editor of Marketplace. They will report to an independent board, the Times reported.

“Technology is shaping our world faster than most people can keep up, before we can digest the implications of any of it. We believe our data-driven approach to tech accountability journalism will bring facts to this emotional debate,” Angwin said in a statement. “And I can’t think of two more accomplished leaders in their fields than Nabiha and Evelyn to join me in the venture.”

From The Markup’s announcement:

Based in New York City, The Markup is expected to begin publishing its investigative work by the end of the year. The organization includes investigative data journalists Jon Keegan, Surya Mattu, Maddy Varner; investigative reporters Adrianne Jeffries and Lauren Kirchner; explanatory reporter Xavier Harding; data science editor Leon Yin; analytics lead Michelle Bellettiere; and dev ops engineer Simon Fondrie-Teitler. Investigative reporter Aaron Sankin also joins as a correspondent.

The Markup is also looking to fill more positions.

Laura Hazard Owen is the editor of Nieman Lab. You can reach her via email (laura_owen@harvard.edu) or Twitter DM (@laurahazardowen).
POSTED     Aug. 6, 2019, 9:08 p.m.
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