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MuckRock @muckrock.com · 5d ago

Join this hands-on OpenSecrets session designed to give journalists the investigative tools to map lobbying influence. Learn how to track industry-wide spending trends, isolate specific corporate targets, and dissect the lobbying reports behind the legislation you cover every day.

Lobbying with OpenSecrets

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Join us for FOIAFriday: FOIA, environmental disasters, and the human impact behind the records. We’ll explore how reporters and analysts track environmental impact through public records, and how those documents can help surface leads, timelines and key actors involved. buff.ly/rCjaUtF

FOIAFriday

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MuckRock @muckrock.com · 5d ago

DHS and DOJ both received more FOIA requests than they processed in fiscal year 2025, contributing to larger pending caseloads by year end. buff.ly/LXjheMO

MuckRock @muckrock.com · 5d ago

The Freedom of the Press Foundation (@freedom.press) launched the Penlight Prize for excellence in paywall-free public records reporting, which awards $25,000 to an outstanding piece of journalism that was made free to the public.

New $25K ‘Penlight’ journalism award honors paywall-free FOIA reporting

The Penlight Prize celebrates paywall-free reporting based on records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act or state public records laws.

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Join this hands-on OpenSecrets session designed to give journalists the investigative tools to map lobbying influence. Learn how to track industry-wide spending trends, isolate specific corporate targets, and dissect the lobbying reports behind the legislation you cover every day.

Lobbying with OpenSecrets

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Transparency laws require agencies to routinely publish data through various channels, making important information available to the public. Here's a guide to agencies providing mental health data and how to use data to report on mental health care across the country.

Using public records to report on mental health

MuckRock’s latest guide explores how to access and use data to report on mental health care across the country.

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MuckRock @muckrock.com · 7d ago

The Pentagon is asking Congress for broad new authority to withhold unclassified records from the public, a proposal that transparency advocates say could significantly reduce the public's ability to scrutinize the nation's largest federal agency.

Pentagon proposes new secrecy power to withhold unclassified records from public-access laws

The legislative proposal would allow the defense secretary to withhold "controlled unclassified information," potentially curbing public access to a wide range of defense records.

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When reporting on mental health and services, journalists need access to public records and federal data to understand where the system works and where it doesn’t and why. MuckRock’s latest guide explores how to access and use data to report on mental health care.

Using public records to report on mental health

MuckRock’s latest guide explores how to access and use data to report on mental health care across the country.

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Learn how to track industry-wide spending trends, isolate specific corporate targets, and dissect the lobbying reports behind the legislation you cover every day. Join us for our training with @opensecrets.org:

Lobbying with OpenSecrets

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Even the most seasoned journalists and public records requestors run into bureaucratic roadblocks, but a denial doesn’t have to be the end of the road. Our latest guide breaks down the most common reasons FOIA requests fail and tweaks you can use to salvage them.

FOIA request denied? Here's how to fix it.

Even the most seasoned journalists and public records requestors run into bureaucratic roadblocks, but a denial doesn't have to be the end of the road. Our latest guide breaks down the most common…

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After two years of research conducted amid staffing cuts and government shutdowns, the committee concluded that federal agencies cannot repair the public-records system on their own.

What requesters need to know about the FOIA Advisory Committee's recommendations for reform

After two years of research conducted amid staffing cuts and government shutdowns, the committee concluded that federal agencies cannot repair the public-records system on their own.

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Artificial intelligence tools can help public records users draft clearer requests, understand denials and review documents. Here’s how requesters can use AI more effectively, and what to watch for when agencies may be using it too. www.muckrock.com/news/archive...

Using AI for FOIA in 2026: What requesters should know

Artificial intelligence tools can help public records users draft clearer requests, understand denials and review documents. But requesters should verify what AI produces and know what to ask when…

muckrock.com

Find yourself taking the same actions on documents over-and-over, that you wish you could automate? This session builds on the foundations of MuckRock's Add-Ons ecosystem — covering what Add-Ons are, why they're powerful, and how to start writing your own. buff.ly/x90GUKl

Building with MuckRock

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Voter guides are crucial to building trust in your local community and keep your readers more informed. MuckRock is now offering through the Sunlight Research Desk the opportunity to create voter guides with assistance from newsroom leader Erica Peterson. buff.ly/pYMbhN2

Membership | Sunlight Research

The Sunlight Research Desk and MuckRock provide powerful investigative tools and support that help local and independent newsrooms produce more high-impact journalism.

sunlightresearch.net

MuckRock's guide explains how to use public records requests to move beyond participation lists and better understand how immigration enforcement operates at the local level.

How to follow the paper trail of ICE’s local Immigration enforcement

MuckRock’s latest guide explains how to obtain records about ICE’s involvement and better understand how immigration enforcement operates at the local level.

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The U.S. military banned slot machines from domestic bases in 1951. But that hasn’t stopped gambling on American military bases overseas, where the Pentagon has been running a gambling operation that generates about tens of millions each year.

How to dig into the money behind the U.S. military’s gambling business

The U.S. military banned slot machines from domestic bases in 1951. But that hasn’t stopped gambling on American military bases overseas, where the Pentagon has been running a gambling operation that…

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During a recent MuckRock FOIAFriday training, Danielle Ohl of Spotlight PA described the overlap between federal immigration enforcement and local government as “butter melted into toast.” The two can be difficult to separate.

Reporting on ICE with public records: A quick-start guide

During a recent MuckRock FOIAFriday training, Danielle Ohl of Spotlight PA described the overlap between federal immigration enforcement and local government as “butter melted into toast.” The two…

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Join this hands-on OpenSecrets session designed to give journalists the investigative tools to map lobbying influence. Learn how to track industry-wide spending trends, isolate specific corporate targets, and dissect the lobbying reports behind the legislation you cover every day.

Lobbying with OpenSecrets

buff.ly

The federal Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee closed out its latest two-year term on July 16 by approving a final report and recommendation package that calls for more funding, stronger oversight and some of the most ambitious structural changes to FOIA in years.

What requesters need to know about the FOIA Advisory Committee's recommendations for reform

After two years of research conducted amid staffing cuts and government shutdowns, the committee concluded that federal agencies cannot repair the public-records system on their own.

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Records released under FOIA reveal agency confusion surrounding the Trump administration’s push to destroy almost $10 million worth of family planning commodities in a Belgian warehouse that were intended for distribution in some of the world’s poorest nations.

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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 2w ago

Join this hands-on OpenSecrets session designed to give journalists the investigative tools to map lobbying influence. Learn how to track industry-wide spending trends, isolate specific corporate targets, and dissect the lobbying reports behind the legislation you cover every day. buff.ly/KVaIo0g

Lobbying with OpenSecrets

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if you are too, in addition to subscribing to 404 Media you can donate to @muckrock.com (the small but mighty org that hosts documentcloud), donating during our summer campaign is especially nice bsky.app/profile/docu...

DocumentCloud@documentcloud.org · last mo.

Transparency is a team sport. We can't win without you. Every public records request takes a team, from filing and tracking requests to publishing records that inform communities. Your support makes that work possible. Donate today! buff.ly/DMShMsj

The federal Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee closed out its latest two-year term on July 16 by approving a final report and recommendation package that calls for more funding, stronger oversight and some of the most ambitious structural changes to FOIA in years.

What requesters need to know about the FOIA Advisory Committee's recommendations for reform

After two years of research conducted amid staffing cuts and government shutdowns, the committee concluded that federal agencies cannot repair the public-records system on their own.

buff.ly