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Sisi Wei Recognized as a Freedom of the Press Rising Star in 2024 RCFP Awards
Sisi Wei was honored as the 2024 Freedom of the Press Rising Star by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Wednesday. The award honors a rising journalist, media lawyer, or organization that has made great strides in defending freedom of the press or who has conquered significant roadblocks in the course of telling an important story. Sisi was editor-in-chief of The Markup and is now chief impact officer of the newly combined organization of CalMatters and The Markup.
California Uber and Lyft Drivers Could Get Back Pay
Tens of thousands of California ride-hailing drivers, and possibly more, could eventually get back pay after a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that clears the way for the state and some cities to proceed with their lawsuits against Uber and Lyft. The two companies had argued that because their drivers...
Launching Blacklight Query, a Tool to Scan Websites for Privacy at Scale
Imagine you’re a journalist investigating the privacy practices of hundreds of government websites. You hope to use Blacklight, The Markup’s real-time digital privacy inspector. But when you visit the tool on The Markup’s website, you realize there’s a catch: you’ll have to enter each website individually, then manually download the inspection results. Hours later and a hundred URLs in, you might be wondering, “Can I do this faster?”
How Meta Brings in Millions Off Political Violence
After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in July, the merchandise started showing up on Facebook. Trump, fist in the air, face bloodied from a bullet, appeared on everything. Coffee mugs. Hawaiian shirts. Trading cards. Commemorative coins. Heart ornaments. Ads for these products used images captured at the scene by Doug Mills for the New York Times and Evan Vucci for the Associated Press, showing Trump yelling “fight” after the shooting. The Trump campaign itself even offered some gear commemorating his survival.
We Made an Emergency Alert Guide To Help Californians Navigate a Complicated Process. Here’s How To Do This In Any State
Welcome to The Markup, where we use investigative reporting, data analysis, and software engineering to challenge technology to serve the public good. Sign up for Klaxon, a newsletter that delivers our stories and tools directly to your inbox. After reporting out how residents can sign up for local emergency alerts...
TikTok Videos Spread Misinformation to New Migrant Community in New York City
Welcome to The Markup, where we use investigative reporting, data analysis, and software engineering to challenge technology to serve the public good. Sign up for Klaxon, a newsletter that delivers our stories and tools directly to your inbox. This article is copublished with Documented, a multilingual news site about immigrants...
The Markup Wins ONA Awards for General Excellence and Community-Centered Journalism
The Markup has won first place for general excellence in the small newsroom category and the Gather Award for community-centered journalism in the 2024 Online Journalism Awards. The awards honor excellence in digital journalism around the world and innovative work in digital storytelling. Judges called The Markup’s work, “Outstanding, actionable...
How AI Detection Software Turns Professors into Cops, Tech as Systems of World-Making, and More
Hello World is a weekly newsletter—delivered every Saturday morning—that goes deep into our original reporting and the questions we put to big thinkers in the field. Browse the archive here. Hello again,. Two weeks ago I shared how I was trying to find an ethical way to use...
Project 2025 targets California’s abortion data privacy protections
As we get closer to Election Day, the investigative team at CalMatters has been finding ways to stay grounded in what’s at stake and localize national issues. So, Monique O. Madan, one of our investigative reporters, and I have spent the last several weeks reading through Project 2025, the 900-page transition plan for the next Republican president.
How I’m Trying to Use Generative AI as a Journalism Engineer — Ethically
I’m Tomas Apodaca, a journalism engineer at The Markup and CalMatters. It’s my job to write software and analyze data and algorithms in service of our investigative journalism. In the year since I joined The Markup, I’ve been thinking about how artificial intelligence can be used in the...
California Companies Wrote Their Own Gig Worker Law. Now No One Is Enforcing It
Nearly four years after California voters approved better wages and health benefits for ride-hailing drivers and delivery workers, no one is actually ensuring they are provided, according to state agencies, interviews with workers and a review of wage claims filed with the state. Voters mandated the benefits in November 2020...
How to Sign Up for Local Emergency Alerts Before Natural Disasters Strike
Natural disasters have affected nearly 90 percent of U.S. counties since 2013, and while many households know about preparing emergency kits, a recent FEMA survey found a large drop in how many people are signed up to receive emergency alerts and warnings. Early warning systems save lives during disasters. To...
California Tried To Make Google Pay News Outlets. The Company Cut a Deal that Includes Funding AI
California lawmakers are abandoning an ambitious proposal to force Google to pay news companies for using their content, opting instead for a deal in which the tech giant has agreed to pay $172 million to support local media outlets and start an artificial intelligence program. The first-in-the-nation agreement, announced today,...
The Markup’s “Clear and Beautiful” Reporting Wins Online Journalism Award
The Markup’s investigative series on internet censorship in schools, “Digital Book Banning,” has won the Online News Association’s Excellence in Technology Reporting award in the small newsroom category. The award recognizes excellence in digital journalism covering all aspects of technology, including culture, policy, and economic impact.
Rejecting Dogmas Around AI, User Privacy, and Tech Policy
Hello World is a weekly newsletter—delivered every Saturday morning—that goes deep into our original reporting and the questions we put to big thinkers in the field. Browse the archive here. Hi everyone,. It’s Ross. I’m back with some more deep discussion of AI policy. This week, I’m catching...
CalMatters/The Markup Honored for Leadership in Diversity and Solidarity, Community Innovation, by Asian American Journalists Association
Welcome to The Markup, where we use investigative reporting, data analysis, and software engineering to challenge technology to serve the public good. Sign up for Klaxon, a newsletter that delivers our stories and tools directly to your inbox. CalMatters/The Markup recently won two prestigious awards at the Asian American Journalists...
Why Silicon Valley Is Trying So Hard to Kill This AI Bill in California
Though lawmakers and advocates proposed dozens of bills to regulate artificial intelligence in California this year, none have attracted more disdain from big tech companies, startup founders, and investors than the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act. In letters to lawmakers, Meta said the legislation, Senate...
The ‘Unsettling,’ Nearly Normalized Surveillance Tech Monitoring the U.S.-Mexico Border
I’m Monique, an investigative reporter at The Markup and now on the i-team at CalMatters (if you’ve been offline this summer, we combined our newsrooms). I’ve been covering technology at the intersection of immigration, criminal justice, social justice and government accountability. This week, I’m introducing you to Francisco Lara-García, a sociologist at Hofstra University, to unpack how surveillance has evolved, and its relationship to folks, like himself, who call the towns, cities, and municipalities along the southern border home.
California’s Two Biggest School Districts Botched AI deals. Here Are Lessons From Their Mistakes
With all the hubris of a startup founder, Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, took to the stage in March to launch Ed the chatbot. He told parents and students it had “the potential to personalize the educational journey at a level never before seen in this district, across the country, or around the world.”
Using Illustration To Help Investigations Stay Grounded and Approachable
Hello World is a weekly newsletter—delivered every Saturday morning—that goes deep into our original reporting and the questions we put to big thinkers in the field. Browse the archive here. Hi everyone,. Gabe Hongsdusit here, The Markup’s visual designer. Last month, we published an investigation about how car...
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