Markup News Inc

THE MARKUP IS A NONPROFIT NEWSROOM THAT INVESTIGATES HOW POWERFUL INSTITUTIONS ARE USING TECHNOLOGY TO CHANGE OUR SOCIETY. WE ARE A NEW KIND OF MEDIA ORGANIZATION, STAFFED WITH AN UNPARALLELED ROSTER OF QUANTITATIVE JOURNALISTS WHO PURSUE MEANINGFUL, DATA-DRIVEN INVESTIGATIONS.

EDITORIAL & GRAPHICS - IN 2021, THE MARKUP PUBLISHED INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTS THAT REVEALED INEQUITIES AND HARM CAUSED BY TECHNOLOGY. OVER THE COURSE OF 2021, WE PUBLISHED 109 ARTICLES A COMBINATION OF IN-DEPTH, DATA BACKED INVESTIGATIONS AND SHORTER, EXPLANATORY ARTICLES THAT EQUIPPED OUR AUDIENCE WITH PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE. OUR WORK HAD A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT. THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU, AND OTHER AGENCIES ANNOUNCED A NEW INITIATIVE TO COMBAT DISCRIMINATORY MORTGAGE LENDING PRACTICES, CITING OUR INVESTIGATION INTO HOME LOAN APPLICATION APPROVAL RATES AS EVIDENCE OF A NATIONWIDE PROBLEM. THE HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ANTITRUST, COMMERCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW INTRODUCED THE AMERICAN CHOICE AND INNOVATION ONLINE ACT TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN LARGE TECH PLATFORMS FROM FAVORING THEIR OWN PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ON THEIR PLATFORMS (INCLUDING IN SEARCH RESULTS), CITING THE MARKUP'S 2020 GOOGLE THE GIANT INVESTIGATION. OUTSIDE OF GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSES, FACEBOOK PLEDGED TO REMOVE CREDIT CARD ADS TARGETED BY AGE AFTER THE MARKUP DISCOVERED COMPANIES WERE TARGETING FINANCIAL SERVICES TO SPECIFIC AGE GROUPS ON THE PLATFORM. WE ALSO REVEALED THAT THE POPULAR FAMILY SAFETY APP LIFE360 WAS SELLING DATA ON KIDS AND FAMILIES' WHEREABOUTS TO APPROXIMATELY A DOZEN DATA BROKERS, WHO IN TURN SELL LOCATION DATA TO VIRTUALLY ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BUY IT. AFTER OUR REPORTING, THE COMPANY SAID IT WOULD GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS OF SELLING RAW LOCATION DATA. IN ADDITION TO OUR REPORTING WORK, WE CONTINUED TO DEVELOP NEW DIGITAL TOOLS AND SUPPORT EXISTING ONES. IN LATE 2021 WE RELEASED THE AMAZON BRAND DETECTOR, A BROWSER EXTENSION THAT ALLOWS ANYONE SHOPPING ON AMAZON TO SEE WHICH PRODUCTS ARE OWNED BY OR EXCLUSIVE TO AMAZON (OFTEN INCONSISTENTLY DISCLOSED BY THE COMPANY) BY PLACING A BOX AROUND THEM IN AMAZON'S SIGNATURE ORANGE. WE LAUNCHED SPLIT SCREEN, AN INTERACTIVE DASHBOARD THAT USES CITIZEN BROWSER DATA TO REVEAL WHAT FACEBOOK'S ALGORITHM CHOOSES TO PLACE IN THE USERS' FEEDS ON A GIVEN DAY, SPLIT BY GENDER, AGE, OR POLITICAL LEANINGS. FINALLY, BLACKLIGHT, OUR FREE, INSTANT PRIVACY-INSPECTION TOOL, SURPASSED 2.5 MILLION URL SCANS.

PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY - IN 2021, THE MARKUP'S PRODUCT AND TECH TEAM PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON BUILDING TOOLS AND PROGRAMS THAT EMPOWERED OTHERS THROUGH DATA AND INFORMATION. FIRST, WE BUILT OUT INTERNAL DATA ANALYSIS SYSTEMS THAT PROVIDED INSIGHTS TO MARKUP STAFF. WE EXTENDED THE ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES OF OUR CITIZEN BROWSER DATA JOURNALISTS BY ADDING METABASE, AN OPEN SOURCE ANALYTICS PLATFORM, TO THE CITIZEN BROWSER WORKFLOW. METABASE MADE IT EASIER FOR JOURNALISTS TO DISCOVER STORIES WITHIN THE DATA WHILE ALSO IDENTIFYING AREAS WHERE THE SYSTEM COULD BE IMPROVED. WE ADDED ANOTHER OPEN SOURCE DATA ANALYTICS PLATFORM, SUPERSET, TO OUR OPERATIONS STACK TO VISUALIZE AND CONTEXTUALIZE DATA FROM SMALL DONATIONS. THE PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY TEAM ALSO EMBARKED ON A BOLD NEW INITIATVE - AN EDUCATION PROGRAM DESIGNED TO ILLUSTRATE OUR UNIQUE APPROACH TO BUILDING PRIVACY-FOCUSED TOOLS AND METHODS.

AUDIENCE - IN 2021, WE FOCUSED OUR AUDIENCE WORK ON GROWING THE MARKUP'S WEB TRAFFIC AND SOCIAL FOOTPRINT. OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, HELLO WORLD, AND OUR REPORTING UPDATE NEWSLETTER GREW TO A COMBINED 14,000 SUBSCRIBERSCONTRIBUTING TO SUBSCRIBER GROWTH OF 10% IN 2021. OUR SOCIAL FOOTPRINT GREW MONTH OVER MONTH IN 2021, WITH OUR MOST SIGNIFICANT GROWTH ON INSTAGRAM (UP 51% FOR THE YEAR) AND TWITTER (UP 11% FOR THE YEAR WITH 4,969 FOLLOWERS). WE CONTINUED OUR EFFORTS ON TWITTER SPACES AND GATHERED DATA THAT HELPED US MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS ON WHERE TO CENTER OUR RESOURCES, TESTING NEW VIDEO FORMATS WITH AN EMPHASIS ON REELS AND VERTICAL VIDEO FOR INSTAGRAM. WE CONDUCTED AUDIENCE EFFORTS FOR MULTIPLE INVESTIGATIONS THAT INCLUDED THE PRODUCTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT SUITES, REPORTER-CENTERED EVENTS INCLUDING TWITTER SPACES AND YOUTUBE LIVESTREAMS, EXTERNAL NEWSLETTER FEATURES, AND TARGETED OUTREACH FOR EACH PUBLICATION DATE. THE TEAM ALSO TESTED SMALL DOLLAR FUNDRAISING, INCLUDING A STICKER DRIVE AND DONATION MATCH PROGRAM AT THE END OF THE YEAR.OUR REPORTING ON ED-TECH WAS FEATURED AT OUR MARCH 29 EVENT "WHO'S GOT MY DATA?" GEARED AT TEACHING STUDENTS HOW TO PROTECT THEIR PERSONAL INFORMATION FROM EDTECH COMPANIES. THE ARCHIVED VERSION HAS BEEN VIEWED 800 TIMES. WE ALSO MADE OUR FIRST TRIP TO SXSW LEADING THE "WORKING FOR AN ALGORITHM" PANEL, AMPLIFYING THE VOICES OF LABOR AND LEGAL MINDS WHO FOCUS ON THE RIGHTS OF GIG WORKERS.