News
Original reporting, commentary, and analysis of public records by MuckRock’s staff and affiliates, with new articles every weekday.

Revolving-door riches: How Obama-Biden officials cashed in during the Trump years
How lucrative is the swamp? A first-of-its-kind analysis shows 77 officials who served under Obama and Biden boosted their assets by an estimated 270% from 2017 to 2021.

Always be filing. But what? Here are some suggestions.
One of the best ways to become comfortable with the public records request process is to find ways to file on a regular basis. We have some suggestions about what you want (and need) to consider to determine what works best for you.

Existen varias zonas críticas con mala calidad del aire en Chicago. Queremos escuchar cómo la contaminación ha afectado a usted y su familia.
Estamos también buscando voluntarios para instalar sensores de calidad del aire en el exterior de sus casas. Si está interesado, complete el formulario más abajo.

Help us investigate Chicago’s air quality
Local newsrooms are collaborating to measure air pollution in Chicago and nearby suburbs. And we need your help.

The KAPIKILL Files, chapter 2: The last days of Orhan Gündüz
Following the January 1982 assassination of the Turkish Consul in Los Angeles, a Turkish import shop owner and honorary diplomat’s shop in Cambridge was bombed. The Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide claimed credit for both, issuing a demand: Pay attention.
FOIA 101: Tips and Tricks to Make You a Transparency Master

A MuckRocker’s guide to requesting public records with the public
FOIA can be a tricky process, but you don’t need to go at it alone. Here are some of our favorite tips, tricks and examples of opening up the public records process, whether it’s hosting an event to train others or building a larger records campaign that works to get more people involved. The benefits: More transparency, more documents and stronger laws that work better for all requesters.

How you can use eviction data and public records to report on housing during the pandemic
Protections have been put in place and rental assistance rolled out. But did landlords in your area use them fairly?

How you can use ‘Uncounted’ CDC data to explore the COVID-19 pandemic’s hidden death toll
The Documenting COVID-19 project and the USA TODAY Network spent months investigating where and why COVID-19 deaths go uncounted.

Researchers say the US is undercounting COVID deaths. Now we have a tool to figure out why.
COVID deaths in the United States have been undercounted, public health experts say. They’re trying to figure out where and why, and a new data set helps.
U.S. Officials Response to COVID-19 in the Navajo Nation
DockIns: Machine Learning on Deadline for Journalists

DockIns: una interfaz para usuarios finales
En los últimos seis meses de nuestra colaboración con LSE, testeamos diferentes herramientas y técnicas para construir una plataforma que ayude a los periodistas de investigación a comprender y procesar documentos poco estructurados y obtener conocimientos útiles.

Cómo correr Sidekick
Alguna vez ¿has tenido una pila de documentos y has querido comenzar a concentrarte rápidamente en una parte determinada de material? ¿Te gustaría contar con ayuda para trabajar solamente en los contratos, o quizás, los informes policiales que detallan un determinado tipo de encuentro, o bien, poder dividir rápidamente las cartas de respaldo de aquellas negativas dirigidas a un político sobre un tema clave?

Dockins: machine learning para periodistas
El acceso a la información pública tiene un rol fundamental en la exigibilidad de otros derechos y es una de las herramientas principales que la sociedad civil requiere para controlar e influir en los gobiernos.

DockIns: Machine Learning on Deadline for Journalists
La Nacion, CLIP, Ojo Público, and MuckRock collaborated together to explore how machine learning could help fuel more effective ways for journalists, researchers, and the public to keep an eye on large government document sets. Here’s what we learned and how you can build on that work.