Staffers at the criminal justice journalism nonprofit the Marshall Project announced Thursday that they are unionizing, a move that puts the award-winning newsroom among the growing ranks of organized labor in the digital and nonprofit media world.
While shutdowns, layoffs, buyouts and other cutbacks have plagued start-up, nonprofit and legacy newsrooms in recent years — just last week local newsroom DCist and the onetime digital media darling Vice.com announced closures — the Marshall Project has seen a mix of growth and success. Since its launch nearly 10 years ago, the organization has won two Pulitzer Prizes, doubled its staff over five years to a head count of about 75, and last year added a local news network in Jackson, Miss., after the launch of its first in Cleveland. Funded primarily through donations and grants, the organization reported revenue of more than $15 million, according to recent tax records.
