News
Original reporting, commentary, and analysis of public records by MuckRock’s staff and affiliates, with new articles every weekday.
How federal agencies responded to our requests about AI use in FOIA
Some federal agencies report using AI to process FOIA requests. We asked for documentation, but they say none exists.
Build your next project using MuckRock’s tools
Join us as we explore the MuckRock API, which enables you to query, file requests, interact with public records and much more.
ATF asks for larger budget from the Trump administration
Recently, MuckRock received transition documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Decoding DOGE: Transparency strategies piercing Trump’s governmental wrecking ball
MuckRock will be hosting an online discussion digging into how DOGE is hiding its work and what you can do to strengthen truly public oversight over Elon Musk’s effort to reshape government.
The impact of anti-trans federal action
The Trans Journalists Association and MuckRock have partnered to help journalists document and report on the Trump administration’s actions targeting trans communities.
FOIA 101: Tips and Tricks to Make You a Transparency Master
Guide to FOIA and environmental records
This MuckRock guide will explore how to use public databases to your advantage when filing environmental FOIA requests.
Guide to using FOIA for access to law enforcement records
Find out what records you can obtain from law enforcement.
Using FOIA for emails
Requesting emails can be extremely insightful, but also a bit of an exemptions minefield.
How data can power public health investigations — through collaboration
In a new story with DataJournalism.com, reporters Dillon Bergin and Betsy Ladyzhets shared how MuckRock collaborates with both experts and other reporters to pursue major data journalism projects.
FOIAFriday: A community podcast about all things FOIA and public records
For the Record: Opening up the statehouse
MuckRock’s September FOIA Friday conversation focused on opening up the statehouse through requesting data and documents such as calendars, contracts, lobbying data and travel logs.
For the Record: Dig into personal financial disclosures
August’s FOIA Friday session covered documents that are especially useful during the election season: personal financial disclosures, business interests and finances.
For the Record: Government transparency when businesses and nonprofits are involved
MuckRock hosted its monthly FOIA Friday conversation on the challenges of requesting public records when businesses and nonprofits intervene.
For the Record: Requesting data inventories
MuckRock’s #FOIAFriday webinar series continued last Friday with a step-by-step guide on how to request data inventories from federal and state agencies.
Liberating public data for the public good
Data Liberation Project expands transparency efforts with MuckRock and Big Local News
The Data Liberation Project transparency initiative is joining MuckRock, where together with the data experts at Big Local News it will expand how the community of FOIA enthusiasts requests, documents and publishes data.
Get the most out of DocumentCloud
Release Notes: Introducing the new DocumentCloud and version 2 of the MuckRock API
The new DocumentCloud is live, featuring a faster, more consistent, and modernized user interface optimized for accessibility and performance. Alongside this, MuckRock is proud to launch version 2 of our MuckRock, offering improved authentication, efficiency, and speed. To support these updates, the new python-squarelet Python library simplifies token management and authentication for both APIs. Additionally, an IPFS/Filecoin Batch Uploader Add-On allows users to upload large document sets more reliably and efficiently.
Using open source tools to track the biggest fight in BJJ
What public records can reveal about a rivalry that rocked submission grappling.
Our search for the best tabular-data extraction tool in 2024, and what we found
DocumentCloud’s recent review provides a detailed comparison of available tools, highlighting their strengths and limitations in handling diverse data extraction tasks.
Documenting Brazil’s January coup attempt using DocumentCloud
Brazilian newsroom Aos Fatos shows how they used DocumentCloud to pull images, audio files and videos from social media accounts.