It publishes most content under a creative commons license and is known for its focus on public interest stories within vulnerable communities[1][‡ 1][2] with a "bottom-up" style of reporting.

[3] Their content is regularly reprinted and featured in other South African news publications such as the Daily Maverick, News24, and Mail & Guardian.

[4] For this investigation, GroundUp editor Geffen and journalist Raymond Joseph were joint winners of the 2021 South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) Nat Nakasa award for courageous community journalism.

[5] Joseph went on to win the Vodacom Journalist of the Year[‡ 2] and Taco Kuiper awards.

[6] In 2023, GroundUp reporters Marecia Damons and Daniel Steyn investigated and exposed the prison escape of convicted rapist Thabo Bester, for which they were received the Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity and the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award in 2023.