Automate your public records request

Hello, reporters! The tool today is a journalism all-timer that I have been using for nigh on 15 years. It’s so embedded in the industry, in fact, that I didn’t realize until recently that people didn’t know about it!

It’s called MuckRock, and if you haven’t used it before, it’s going to change your life. (Full disclosure, I also work with them right now. But still recommend them 100%.)

MuckRock helps you file public records requests – both the federal FOIA and state versions. One of the coolest features is that it follows up for you – no more calendar reminders, no more “Just following up” emails. Let MuckRock handle it!

In this request, you can see my original request and MuckRock’s several follow up emails. Hooray for automation!

MuckRock also helps enormously when filing the original request, because it has a huge database of FOIA officers around the country. If you’ve requested records before, you probably know that finding contact info is half the battle.

There’s plenty more I could say about MuckRock (they also run DocumentCloud), but I’ll stop there for now. Save yourself some time and frustration, reporters!