The Markup

Name

The Markup

Legal name

The Markup News, Inc.

Website

https://themarkup.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Investigative Journalism

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (81331)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Human Rights Monitoring, Documentation & Advocacy (BPADAGAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Content Identification & Matching (Fingerprinting, ID Resolution) (MPAHALAE)

Keywords

• Investigative journalism
• Data journalism
• Tech accountability newsroom
• Privacy research tools
• Nonprofit news media

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Philanthropic Support: The Markup is a nonprofit investigative newsroom that relies on reader donations and philanthropic support to fund its operations. No revenue is generated from advertising or subscriptions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Markup is a nonprofit investigative newsroom that produces data-driven journalism revealing how technology affects society. It builds and operates proprietary investigative tools — most notably the Blacklight privacy inspector and its companion Blacklight Query command-line scanner — alongside databases and methodology resources such as the Law Enforcement ICE Cooperation Tracker and the Show Your Work/Blueprints platform that publishes datasets, story recipes, and open-source code. All content and tools are made freely available online with no paywall, funded primarily by reader donations and philanthropic grants.

Product overview

The Markup is a nonprofit investigative news organization that operates as a unified journalism platform — not a commercial software product — organized around investigative series and accountability tools. Its core offerings include Blacklight, a real-time privacy inspector that scans websites for trackers (expanded with Blacklight Query, an open-source command-line tool for batch scanning at scale), and the Law Enforcement ICE Cooperation Tracker, a database exposing police-ICE partnerships. The broader portfolio is organized into named investigative series — including Pixel Hunt (tracking pixel/data sharing), Citizen Browser (social media algorithms), Automated Censorship (content moderation auditing), Digital Book Banning (school web filter investigation), Still Loading (broadband disparity investigation), Languages of Misinformation (immigrant community misinformation), Organ Failure (transplant system), Locked Out (housing algorithms), On Borrowed Time (medical algorithm bias), and Machine Learning (AI systems impact) — all supported by a Show Your Work/Blueprints resource platform that publishes open datasets, methodologies, interactive tools, and replicable guides for journalists and the public.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Blacklight A real-time privacy inspector tool that scans websites for user-tracking technologies and lets any reader see which trackers are active. Used nearly 16 million times by the public, journalists, and researchers to expose tracking by OB-GYNs, online pharmacies, ed-tech companies, and others.
• Blacklight Query An open-source command-line tool that lets journalists, researchers, and the public inspect batches of websites for privacy-invasive tracking technology at scale, built on the Blacklight privacy inspector framework.
• United States Place Sampler (USPS) A tool that generates random address samples to support investigations of broadband and internet service availability, enabling anyone to collect data on internet plans offered in their area. Built in partnership with Big Local News at Stanford University, which also archives the resulting data with Stanford Libraries.
• Law Enforcement ICE Cooperation Tracker A database tool that tracks and visualizes state and local police agencies collaborating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the 287(g) program, providing the public and journalists with an accessible view of these partnerships.
• Show Your Work / Blueprints A methodology and resource platform that publishes datasets, story recipes, open-source tools, interactive spreadsheets, and mapping guides so that journalists, researchers, and the public can replicate and build upon Markup investigations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Readers scanned websites for trackers nearly 16 million times using Blacklight
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Pulitzer Center's AI Accountability NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 February 2025Collaborative partnership for the Dating App Reporting Project investigating Match Group. The Pulitzer Center's AI Accountability Network provided support and resources for the 18-month investigation into how Tinder, Hinge, and their corporate owner kept rape under wraps.
• The GuardianmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Markup's dating app investigation was copublished with The Guardian, reaching a broader international audience through collaborative publication.
• The 19thmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Markup's dating app investigation was copublished with The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom focused on politics and policy.
• Brandeis UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Markup expanded its Blacklight privacy tool to detect TikTok and X tracking pixels on websites, developed in partnership with Brandeis University computer science students.
• Big Local News (Stanford University)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Big Local News at Stanford University to develop the United States Place Sampler (USPS) tool that generates random address samples for investigating internet disparities. Big Local News also provides data archiving with Stanford Libraries.
• Viet Fact CheckminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVietnamese grassroots organization whose volunteers translated The Markup's Languages of Misinformation stories into Vietnamese for the Vietnamese elder community.
• CalMatterscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Markup merged with CalMatters, combining into a nearly 100-person organization. Sisi Wei serves as Chief Impact Officer of the combined organization. The two newsrooms collaborate on joint investigations including health data tracking and dating app coverage.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ProPublica: ProPublica is a leading nonprofit investigative newsroom with a national scope and major-foundation funding. It is the closest direct peer to The Markup in mission, funding model, and impact-driven investigations.
• Mother Jones: Mother Jones is a nonprofit investigative magazine with a national audience and donor-supported funding model. Comparable in long-form accountability journalism and policy-impact orientation.
• Type Investigations: Type Investigations is a nonprofit investigative reporting studio producing long-form accountability journalism. Its small-team, project-based model and reliance on philanthropic funding mirror The Markup's structural model.
• The Marshall Project: The Marshall Project is a nonprofit investigative newsroom focused on the U.S. criminal-justice system, founded in 2014. It is highly comparable as a topic-specific nonprofit investigative outlet that uses data journalism and has won major awards.
• The Intercept: The Intercept is an investigative outlet focused on technology, surveillance, and corporate power, with strong data-driven reporting. The Markup's Deputy Editor Ryan Tate previously worked there, and it covers overlapping subject matter including platform accountability.
• CalMatters: CalMatters is the parent nonprofit after the 2024 merger and a direct peer in operating model — a California-focused nonprofit newsroom funded by philanthropy producing investigative and explanatory journalism with measurable policy impact.
• The Center for Public Integrity: The Center for Public Integrity is a national nonprofit investigative outlet focused on government accountability and policy outcomes. Comparable in mission to surface hidden power dynamics through data-driven reporting.

Emerging players

• Mozilla Foundation: Mozilla Foundation funds and produces internet-health research and advocacy with overlap to The Markup's data-privacy and trustworthy-AI investigations. Notable for being the current home of The Markup's former CEO Nabiha Syed.
• EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation): EFF is a nonprofit civil-liberties organization focused on digital rights, privacy, and platform accountability. While not a newsroom, it overlaps heavily with The Markup's subject matter on online surveillance, privacy, and First Amendment issues.

Broad incumbents

• The Guardian US: The Guardian US is a much larger established newsroom that co-published The Markup's dating-app investigation. It is comparable as an investigative partner covering technology accountability and broader digital rights reporting.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/team_markup
• GitHubgithub.com/the-markup
• Facebookfacebook.com/teammarkup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/themarkup
• Instagraminstagram.com/the.markup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Markup