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Julia Angwin, the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the Markup, a still-in-development investigative news publication that was slated to launch in July, has been fired over differences with Sue Gardner, the CEO. The news of Angwin’s ouster, first reported by The New York Times, prompted five of the website’s seven editorial members to announce their resignations. Angwin’s dismissal also drew major public support from the public. Another of its founders, Jeff Larson has been announced as the current editor-in-chief of The Markup.

Julia Angwin, an ex-ProPublica veteran had been working alongside Jeff Larson on the Markup for the last year with the vision of producing meaningful data-centered journalism about the impact of technology on society. The Markup raised more than $23 million in funding last year led by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark.

After the news of her oust, Angwin wrote a letter addressed to Newmark, seeking him to review and intervene in the situation unfolding at The Markup. The letter was posted on Twitter from an account named “The Real Team Markup” on Tuesday. Per her letter, Executive Director, Sue Gardner is now seeking to change the mission of the newsroom to “one based on advocacy against the tech companies”. During her interview with candidates Gardner used to ask for their “take” on tech companies, and then reportedly rate them based on their hatred toward these companies. Angwin adds, “She has asked me to run articles with headlines such as ‘Facebook is a dumpster fire’”. On retaliating, Angwin was asked to step down from her position as editor-in-chief on March 29 and become a columnist, writing opinion articles.

Update: The article has now been updated to include Craig Newmark’s response. The story has also been updated on 27th April to include Sue Gardner’s response.

Gardner disputed this characterization to the New York Times. “There is no change in the mission or purpose of The Markup. We are, pure and simple, a news outlet. We always have been and always will be. Our goals and purpose haven’t changed.” she told NYT. The site had issues with Ms. Angwin involving “leadership, management and willingness to accept feedback and training to grow as an editor-in-chief.”

Interestingly, it was Angwin who hired Gardner last year after she forced Angwin to let her become the CEO. Angwin was reluctant but was assured that she would be given an employment contract with job protections for her position as Editor-in-chief but no such contract was signed. Now some people are touting Angwin’s expulsion as a “power grab”.

In disapproval of Angwin’s dismissal, multiple staff members of the Markup have also resigned from their positions. 5 out of 7 editorial team members tweeted about their departure, with Angwin tweeting in response that they “can’t afford to do this. This is heartbreaking.”

The Markup is now down to 2 editorial employees. Its response: “Mr. Larson said the company had accelerated recruitment and had ‘multiple other hires in motion,’ and hoped that the launch would not be delayed.”

The editorial team of Markup has also signed a statement of unequivocal support for Julia Angwin.

Other people have also come forward in solidarity with Angwin.

A blog post on Medium opposes her recent ouster as Editor-in-Chief of the Markup  and invites people to sign a public statement of support for Julia Angwin. The blog post has been signed by over 100 people and counting, states, “The Markup is set to launch in July and should not do so without Julia at the helm. We encourage all her original funders to investigate this situation and to take steps to ensure that the Markup stays true to its founding principles.”

Journalists and reporters from top publishing sites have also tweeted in support.

Update: Craig Newmark responded yesterday via a tweet saying that “he is taking this very seriously”

Craig and Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Knight Foundation, Open Society Foundation and the Ethics and Governance of AI Initiative will reassess The Markup’s funding.

Update: Sue Gardner has also added her response dismissing all of Jula Angwin’s claims regarding her oust.

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Sugandha Lahoti
Content Marketing Editor at Packt Hub. I blog about new and upcoming tech trends ranging from Data science, Web development, Programming, Cloud & Networking, IoT, Security and Game development.