a distinctly 2019 situation at The Markup

We’re keeping an eye on what’s going on with The Markup, a promising tech watchdog nonprofit that raised $23 million in funding and planned to launch in July — except that, earlier this week, editor-in-chief Julia Angwin has been forced out by another co-founder. The best context for how shocking that is is this tweet from NYU’s Jay Rosen:

What’s even more shocking: The Markup’s 7-member editorial staff has sent a letter to management in support of Angwin, and at least half of the journalists (5 so far by Nieman Lab / Joshua Benton’s count) have resigned in protest, making it one of the boldest and riskiest displays of solidarity at a time when the rest of digital media is still working out the hypotheticals of truly unionized power.

And if that + public outrage isn’t enough to pressure management to backpedal, there’s also the letter that Angwin herself sent appealing to The Markup’s biggest donor, Craigslist Craig, to get involved, making this news officially a distinctly 2019 media situation: you’ve got some digital media collective action throwing down the gauntlet on one side, a deeper question of journalism’s relationship with the tech scene on the other, and the specter of a billionaire-ex-machina situation looming over it all. Keep your eyes peeped! This is going to be important.