CalMatters

CalMatters, a nonprofit news organization covering California state politics and policies, launched in 2015.^[1][2] Founders cited the decline in coverage of state politics in the decade leading up to the founding of CalMatters as a major motivation.^[3] As of 2017, it was becoming one of the largest nonprofit newsrooms in the country raising 90 percent of its funding from individuals with only some foundation support.^[4] It has also credited its partnership with the LA Times and Capitol Public Radio, among others, as helping to grow the organization quickly.^[4]

Upon Donald Trump taking office, the website launched a project called "Trump v. California" which highlighted the criticisms made by the president against the heavily Democratic state.^[5]

CalMatters launched a rebranded website in 2019.^[6]

In November 2023, Andrew Donohue was named investigative editor and has been hiring to grow the size of his investigative team to five reporters from three in 2023.^[7]

In 2024, nonprofit news outlet The Markup merged newsrooms with CalMatters, citing complementary funders and expertise, with The Markup having a more technical and narrower focus on national and global technology policy.^[8][9]

In April 2026, CalMatters received a News & Documentary Emmy Award nomination in the Outstanding Editing: News category for "Operation Return to Sender," a documentary produced in collaboration with Bellingcat and Evident Media.^[10][11] The documentary investigated U.S. Border Patrol raids in Kern County and was CalMatters' first venture into film production.^[12]