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Bible
Onboarding: Welcome to MuckRock
FOIA Tactics, Strategy, and Resources
Welcome! This our Bible. There are many like it but this one is ours and at MuckRock it is God. If the answer to a question you have is not in this Good Book, ask someone who's been at MuckRock longer than you and make sure they add their answer to the Bible. ALWAYS ask questions. Answering a question now takes much less time than fixing a mistake later.
This document serves both as a reference and institutional memory builder for MuckRock. Don't worry about memorizing the Bible or the droves of complex intricacies in its pages. Instead just get through the Onboarding section. Sign up and learn the basics of the tools that we use and familiarize yourself with the people who work here. When you run into new situations, come back to the Bible for guidance.
Happy MuckRocking.
In this section you'll learn about the magic behind MuckRock, the various tools our team uses and the people who work here.
New employees need to fill out and return two documents: A W-9 and a Contractor Agreement. All MuckRock staff are currently employed as contractors. If you have questions about that status, about the agreement, or anything else, please feel free to get in touch with Michael.
A staff member will set you up with an @muckrock.com GMail account. Have it forwarded to your main email or integrate it with your favorite mail client or use it on its own. Whichever, this email address will be used to share calendars and documents and be your login for Slack, our primary means of communication.
Slack is cross platform tool that works in Mac and Windows desktop environments, on iOS and Android smartphones or directly in a browser window. It provides a chatroom that archives our communications and integrates well with our use of Google Drive. Slack is a place to troubleshoot, communicate remotely, collaborate and chat privately with individual team members. It's important to ask questions in Slack so that everyone can see the answers. Also, with a well endowed collection of emoji the platform provides much needed comic relief.
Our Daily Prefect (yes it's a Harry Potter reference) is charged with tracking and making sure that our daily tasks are performed and completed. They are not necessarily responsible for completing all the tasks themselves but instead ensuring that everything gets done by someone somewhere. At the day's end they fill out the Daily Prefect Report, which is automatically emailed to everyone at MuckRock.
The Daily Prefect should be your point person if ever you find yourself with extra time on your hands.
See the section on Prefect Duties when your turn comes to be the Prefect.
Learn these so that you can tell people about MuckRock.
Twitter: @MuckRock
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1 617-299-1832 (will ring Michael Morisy, office phone, [email protected])
Fax: +1 206-984-9551 (will generate PDF in [email protected] inbox)
Snail Mail: MuckRock | P.O. Box 55819 | Boston, MA 02205
- 1/2012-8/2013 Tom Nash
- 7/2012-10/15 Shawn Musgrave
- 8/2012-1/2013 Inkoo Kang
- 1/2013-8/2014 George LeVines
- 1/2014-4/2014 Chris Caesar
- 1/2014-~ Beryl Lipton
- 5/2014-~ JPatrick Brown
- 6/2014-~ Allan Lasser
- 6/2016-~ Caitlin Russell
BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS.
By now you know that MuckRock is a public records requesting/news service. We endeavor to both help citizens request documents from local, state and federal government agencies as well as report on those documents.
As far as we know our database of agency contact information for submitting public records is the largest available. On its own the database is a formidable resource but coupled with our request tracking technology and other nifty features, the system takes freedom of information to the next level.
Our system works by generating a unique tracking number associated with each user generated request. We call it the MR NUMBER (pronounced 'em are number' not Mister Number). The system also generates a unique email address for each request. Any time a communication mentioning that MR# runs through our system it automatically gets attached to the associated request page. The system will then automatically follow up with agencies depending on the STATUS of the request.
That's the basics. Feel free to keep reading or poke around the site and mess with the various tools we use.
This section describes in detail the most common scenarios encountered when handling user requests. As a rule, MuckRock treats each request and each communication with individual granularity. That said, with the ever increasing number of documents and requests we handle, it's important for us to be both accurate and swift. To that end we have generalized some processes and hope to continue streamlining our mechanisms for handling communications, incoming and outgoing. It is in this section and by getting your hands dirty with requests that you will learn the ways of the FOIA Jedi.
MuckRock is made up of thousands of requests. Each request has a status that changes as different situations and communications present.
Here are the current possible statuses:
-
Draft: The request is still being crafted and has not yet been submitted.
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Processing: MuckRock must take some sort of action to move the request forward. Most often this involves sending out physical, analog, stamped, snail mail.
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Awaiting Acknowledgement: The request has been submitted but the agency has yet to acknowledge that they received the request or respond in any other way. (Auto followups enabled)
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Awaiting Response: The agency has sent some form of communication regarding the request. They have acknowledged the request but have not completed responding to it. (Auto followups enabled)
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Awaiting Appeal: An appeal to the agency has been submitted but a determination on the appeal has yet to be made.
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Fix Required: The user must do something in order for the agency to continue processing the request (typically clarify all or part of the request).
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Payment Required: The agency requires payment before it produces records responsive to the request.
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Rejected: The agency has rejected the request.
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No Responsive Documents: The agency has stated there are no documents that respond to the request.
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Completed: We are in receipt of documents from the agency that are responsive to the request.
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Partially Completed: We are in receipt of documents that address a portion of, but do not completely fulfill, the request.
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Withdrawn: The request has been withdrawn.
(Statuses with Auto followups enabled periodically send automatically generated followup messages to the agency.)
Each communication will do one of two things: 1) Change the request status, or 2) Leave it the same.
A common example is a request that is Awaiting Acknowledgement — the status immediately after submission — that receives a letter from they agency stating that they have received the request and are working on it: an "Acknowledgement Letter". Such a letter would change the request status from Awaiting Acknowledgement to Awaiting Response.
Agencies will commonly address multiple issues in one single letter (or better still, send multiple communications on the same day that address two completely different parts of a request) and so setting the status can quickly become a crazy-making task.
Especially when starting out, it's important to ask if you are unsure of the status. Don't fret too much, even MuckRock staff ascribe an incorrect status from time to time. Be vigilant, ask questions, and alert staff to errors as soon as possible.
The inbox associated with [email protected] (colloquially referred to as "The Requests Inbox") is where a healthy majority of communications pass through. Most require simple verification and status update but a good number of situations are more nuanced and require special attention. Hey, if it were easy it wouldn't be FOIA.
We're always trying to hone the Requests Inbox flow. So speak up if you have suggestions.
Responses
Any communication that constitutes a response — that is any communication from an agency that concerns a particular request — is automatically labeled with a green RESPONSE tag in the Requests Inbox. With every email tagged RESPONSE there is a copy of that email in the inbox without a green tag, typically just above or below the tagged email.
For communications tagged with a green RESPONSE take the following steps:
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Open the email and make note of the request's Current Status. It will be listed at the very top of the email. If the status is already 'terminal' (Withdrawn, Completed, Rejected) this communication is likely attached to the wrong MR#, more on that below.
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Also make note of any information in the Agency Tracking field next to the status.
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Scroll past the series of status setting links and read over the communication.
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If the Agency Tracking field was empty, look for and copy to the clipboard any tracking ID, Case# or FOIA# number.
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Determine the most appropriate status. If you're not sure ask! (See Setting the Status for more on this).
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Set the status by clicking on the corresponding link at the top of the email. This will open the request on the admin side of MuckRock.
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Verify that the status was set correctly and scroll down to ensure that the communication in fact belongs to this request. Sometimes agencies will mistakenly ascribe a communication the wrong MR# which will cause a mismatch. (Clues that can help determine that the communication is being placed on the proper request include matching: agency tracking number, requester, agency, request subject, context, submission date, status.)
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Paste any agency tracking info into the Tracking id field.
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In the event that the communication has been assigned to an incorrect MR#, we need to move the communication to the correct MR#. Follow the instructions in Moving Communications.
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Blank communications: Typically blank communications have an attachment that needs to be viewed outside of the Requests Inbox. Open the attachment by clicking on the Request Admin link. This opens the request in the admin interface where the attachment should be available.
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Once everything is settled and the status appropriately set, click "Save" and archive both copies of the communication in the Requests Inbox.
Failed Faxes
We use a fax service called Faxaway to send and receive faxes. Failed faxes are not uncommon and occur for a number of reasons. They are labeled FAILED FAX in the Requests Inbox. Its important that we troubleshoot these and determine the cause of the failure.
The first thing is to search for the fax number associated with the failure in the Requests Inbox search bar. If a lot of faxes associated with the number have bounced (especially if they're recent) we need to verify the fax number. Check the agency website and/or call the agency to verify that the number has not changed and that the machine is online. If the number has never bounced before we likely just need to resubmit.
To resubmit:
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Open the email and find the MR#, typically all the way at the bottom in the address.
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Open the request page backend. (e.g., https://www.muckrock.com/admin/foia/foiarequest/1234/)
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Click "View on site".
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Scroll down to the failed fax communication. Select and copy it's contents.
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Delete the communication.
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In the right sidebar, click Admin Fix.
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Enter MuckRock in the "From" field.
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Paste the copied communication in the Body field.
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Click Submit.
If the fax number has been confirmed as working and the fax still bounces, we need to submit the communication via snail mail and check with Faxaway to ensure that everything is in working order on the MuckRock and Faxaway side.
Bad Sender
Communications get a BAD SENDER label when they are sent directly to [email protected] rather than the appropriate [email protected].
Often these messages are spam and can be marked as such then archived.
For communications that aren't spam determine which request the communication belongs to and manually import the communication and any attachments. Sometimes the MR# is right there in the communication. Other times a little Gmail Fu in either [email protected] or [email protected] is necessary. (See the section Troubleshooting with Diagnostic Tim for more on this.)
Dropped
The DROPPED label gets applied when and email address bounces. Much like the fax failures we need to trouble shoot the reason for the bounce. Check agency pages online, phone the proper department and make sure that the email has not changed. If the email is correct ask the agency to check their spam filter for any communications from our domain.
If necessary we will send an email from outside our domain to test.
Finally, the DROPPED label also conveniently produces a list of requests that are also using the bounced email so that we can troubleshoot all of them at once.
To Mail
The TO MAIL label gets applied in two circumstances.
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When a user submits a request to a New Agency.
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When MuckRock needs To Mail a snail mail request or followup.
New Agencies
Requests to new agencies must be vetted by someone at MuckRock. These requests will carry the TO MAIL label and have an email labeled NEW AGENCY directly above or below the request.
Most often there is an email or fax available for an agency and so the request does not need to be mailed. But first the new agency must be approved.
To do so open the NEW AGENCY email and click on the Agency Admin link. Verify the user submitted information by cross checking with online resources. Make a phone call to the agency if necessary. Fill in any missing fields (Especially: Jurisdiction, Address, Email, Webpage, Phone, Fax). Approve the agency by selecting the checkbox next to Approved.
Now go to the request communication page. Copy the communication to the clipboard and delete the communication. Click Admin Fix. Enter MuckRock in the From field and paste the communication in the Body field. Submit the communication. Archive both the TO MAIL and NEW AGENCY emails.
For more information see Adding an Agency
Snail Mail
Copy and paste the contents of the request or followup into a word processing program. Take care to follow any directions in the Notes section just after the address. Delete the notes after following them. Change the font to 11 pt and insert 8 RETURNS above the address. Print the communication and stuff it into an envelope, fitting the address into the window. Apply postage and our return address stamp. Seal the envelope and place in the outgoing mail.
Set the status. If it was previously Awaiting Response set it back to that. The same for Awaiting Acknowledgement. Archive the email.
Flag
Users will Flag requests for a variety of reasons. See Flags in the Helping Users section for more information.
Personnel Labels
MuckRock uses these labels to designate that a communication is being handled by a particular staff member. Often communications will take longer than one day to handle (waiting on an agency or user to follow through). Labeling them with the individual's name ensures that things don't slip through the cracks as we work to resolve requests.
Inbox Filters
We use Gmail filters in the inbox. That's how the colored labels get generated. As MuckRock evolves so to do the inbox filters. Feel free to suggest a filter or other feature, especially if you think it will save us clicks and time.
A surprising number of agencies still respond and release documents by printing or photocopying and sending communications via USPS. In these instances we need to digitize the documents and upload them to the appropriate request.
Using scanning application on our office computer we use the following file naming structure as we scan documents:
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Date
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MR#
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Status Acronym
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Agency Tracking ID
Here's an example:
6-24-14 MR5130 APP-ACK ID#SPR14/347
Before hitting scan ensure the following settings:
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Scan Mode: Document Feeder (or Flatbed if scanning a non-standard size document)
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Kind: Black & White
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Resolution: 200 dpi
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Orientation: Portrait (right side up)
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Duplex: Off (unless scanning double sided docs)
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Scan To: scans - dropbox
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Format: PDF
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Combine into single document: Yes
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Image correction: None
See the Acronym Lexicon for more information on ascribing the appropriate communication status.
Acronym Lexicon
Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon Acronym Lexicon
Moving Communications
When logged in as an admin user you have the ability to move any communication from one request to another. This is especially useful when communications get attached to the wrong request.
To move a communication find it on the request page and click move. Enter the MR# digits of the destination request and click Submit. Set the status of both the origin and destination requests.
Agencies will often provide a date when they anticipate being able to complete the request. If an agency does so we adjust our next auto followup to reflect their estimation.
Go into the request backend and set the Date Followup field to a week after the agency's estimation.
For estimations that are more than a year away set a followup for the six month mark.
Often times a request gets submitted to an agency that is not equipped to handle the request or serves as a central FOIA repository for other agencies. In these situations agencies will often forward the request to one or more other agencies.
In the event that a request is forwarded we need to change the Agency of the request and adjust the Date Submitted and Date Due fields. Save the request after making the changes.
Submit an Admin Fix on the user facing request page asking the agency to confirm receipt of the request and provide a estimated completion date. Use something like the following:
This is a followup to a request which was forwarded to your agency by the Forwarding Agency. Please confirm receipt and provide an estimated completion date.
Thank you.
If a request was forwarded to multiple agencies move to the next section, Splitting Requests.
A few situations call for a request to be split into multiple requests.
In these situations we copy the request, change the date and agency information, and submit a followup to ensure that the agencies are all aware of the request.
[EXPAND UPON THIS...]
When an agency requests payment for documents and a user agrees to pay, we mail the agency a check along with a communication.
Write out the check for the appropriate amount and record the MR# in the FOR field of the balancing ledger. Be sure to make the check out to the appropriate place (sometimes it's to a jurisdiction, sometimes it's the agency directly).
Print out a letter to go with the check that contains the following:
[SPACE]
[SPACE]
[SPACE]
[SPACE]
[SPACE]
[SPACE]
[SPACE]
[SPACE]
[ADDRESS SLUG]
[SPACE]
[SPACE]
[DATE]
[SPACE]
[SPACE]
Please find the enclosed check to remit payment for the following records:
[TEXT OF ORIGINAL REQUEST]
The request was originally submitted on [SUBMISSION DATE].
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter and commitment to a transparent government.
Any user with a payment required and a properly set payment amount on the backend can opt to "Crowdfund" a request by just clicking the button. A notification email is sent to [email protected]. The subject line is "[Username] has launched a crowdfunding campaign". It includes a default message that can be forwarded to the user asking for more info.
All crowd funding campaigns can be managed here:
https://www.muckrock.com/admin/crowdfund/crowdfundrequest/
By default, the duration is one month for each campaign; this can be shortened or extended on the crowd funding campaign page, and the amount can be modified. A 5% surcharge is added which covers are credit card fees.
It's important to update the sidebar text throughout the campaign, and if appropriate promote it throughout via Twitter, news article, sidebar callouts, etc. If you're processing these notifications in the inbox, please take a minute to schedule something on the calendar detailing a tweet ever few days, and make sure that someone is tasked with updating the sidebars: Every anonymous sidebar, and every sidebar that's not a request page for logged in users.
<h2>Set these documents free!</h3>
<p>This request is held up by the agency, pending payment of request fees. The filer is trying to raise money to pay the fees, and you can help out below.</p>
<p><b>Fee Breakdown:</b>
<ul>
<li>$XXXX <em>for copying and agency search time</em></li>
<li>$XXXX (5% of total) <em>for payment processing</em></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Contributors</b>
<ul>
<li>You can be the first!</li>
</ul>
<p><em><strong>Editor's Note:</strong> If the full amount is not raised, MuckRock will negotiate to get a portion of the documents released. If more than the full amount is raised, MuckRock will put the funds towards the release of other documents.</em>
Never list a contributor without explicit permission: if you have that, please list their name with a link back to profile page. If you don't, add a line like
<li> <li><em>... and 3 others!</em></li>
as appropriate.
Inevitably situations will arise that are not covered in this Good Book. Some will be familiar and requiring special attention. Others will be brand new to everyone.
In either case seek council from the FOIA warriors that have come before you.
Diagnostic Tim a.k.a. [email protected] records every email in its original format that travels in and out of [email protected], whereas what we see in the Requests Inbox is parsed.
Sometimes what we see in the Requests Inbox is not what we expect. In those cases performing a search for the MR# or contents of an email can deliver telling clues about how to handle a particular communication.
One of MuckRock's biggest assets is our database of agency contact information.
This section deals with keeping our database clean and accurate, starting with adding an agency.
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From the admin interface select +Add across from Agencies.
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Name the agency appropriately. If the agency has a generic name (e.g., Police Department) append the jurisdiction in parentheses in the title.
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Select the agency Jurisdiction.
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Select yourself as the User.
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Select the Appeal agency if applicable.
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Enter the Address, Email(s), FOIA Web page, Phone, and Fax, where available. (In order to function an agency must have at least Name, Jurisdiction, User, and Address filled in).
Once an agency is vetted — contact information confirmed by a website, phone call, or email — it must be approved to appear before users.
Approve an agency by ticking the Approved check box on an agency page.
Sometimes users will create an agency that already exists. In these cases we must merge the agency with the one that already exists.
We do so by changing the Agency of any request associated with the redundant agency. Once all of the requests have been pulled to the previously existing agency, we can safely delete the redundant agency by clicking Delete in the bottom left corner of the redundant agency page.
A note of caution. Before deleting the redundant agency ensure that the user sent the communication to the appropriate location. That is, check to see if the contact information on the original and redundant agency pages match.
If not resubmit the request using the correct contact info, the same way we would resubmit a request to a new agency in the TO MAIL section.
MuckRock has a number of stop gaps that prevent information and requests from falling into dark corners of our database and the internet.
In this section we explore a few things that MuckRock does to keep things running smoothly. Mostly this involves keeping tabs on old information.
As the Daily Prefect it is your responsibility to ensure that the day's 'chores' get accomplished. The daily tasks include:
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Scanning
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Filing
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To Mails
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Requests Inbox
At the end of the day fill out the Daily Prefect Report. All inbox numbers are total numbers not just the unread counts.
DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED? DEPRECATED?
Stale agencies are agencies that have not responded to a request for quite some time (more specific timeline?). It is likely that their agency page needs to be updated with more contemporary contact information.
Verify the contact information in the same manner you would when adding an agency. If the information online confirms our records, call the agency to double check.
If our information is correct make sure the agency is receiving our communications.
If our information is incorrect update the agency page and submit followups to ongoing requests with that agency.
Orphaned communications are [WHAT EXACLTY!?!?]
Clear out the spam and move the real stuff to the appropriate request.
There are three golden rules to bug reporting:
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I tried this.
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I expected this.
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I saw this instead.
Gather as much information as possible including:
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URLs used
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How you accessed the URLs
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Files you uploaded or tried to upload.
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Text you added or tried to remove.
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Why you were accessing the page.
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Could you replicate the error? If so how?
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Screen shots of the error.
If you have Redmine permissions submit bugs to:
https://mitchellkotler-apps.sourcerepo.com/redmine/mitchellkotler/projects/show/muckrock
If you do not have Redmine permissions, send reports to [email protected] and [email protected].
Sample Bug Report:
I tried this.
I manually typed in this URL (https://www.muckrock.com/admin/foia/foiarequest/2884) to make an adjustment to the request page (there was a typo on it in the front end).
I expected this.
Normally these pages load fine. I was just going to change the typo (“Editor’s Note to Editor’s Note” in the 2nd communication) and save again.
I saw this instead.
The page gave an application error:
It worked as expected when I reloaded the page, and after refreshing several more times, I could not replicate the error.
There are two types of every sidebar, one for each type of page and logged out users. Anonymous sidebars should be updated about once a week to promote whatever we need to promote, particularly active crowd funding campaigns, useful tutorials, or big stories we want to give an extra push to.
Logged in sidebars should be focused on being helpful to customers: Tutorials, hints, new features, status updates, etc. News sidebars can pretty much mirror logged in ones (promoting crowd funding, etc.), but sidebars on logged in request pages should be as minimal as possible: We don't want to obscure the tools they're using to handle requests.
A sidebar for logged out users prompting them to join:
<div class="success">
<h3>Join MuckRock: Open the government</h3>
<p>MuckRock is a participatory news tool that allows anyone to easily file, track, and share their public records requests with an easy, intuitive letter generator and automated follow up tools. Filing starts at just $20 for 5 requests, $40 a month for a pro account, or <a href="/assignments/">earn free requests with assignments</a>.</p>
<p align="center"><a class="jqbutton" href="/accounts/register/">Register Today</a></p>
</div>
<br /><br /><br />
Sidebar asking to contribute to Crowdfunding
<a href="https://www.muckrock.com/foi/massachusetts-1/emails-between-commonwealth-fusion-center-and-private-security-firms-12295/">
<h2>Help Crowdfund Fusion Center Transparency</h2>
<img src="https://muckrock.s3.amazonaws.com/agency_images/fsg-maynard-02.jpg.510x233_q85.jpg" width="260px"></a><br /><br />
<em>Evan Anderson filed with the Commonwealth Fusion Center to see what kinds of work it was outsourcing to security contractors. The agency said it likely had some documents, but it will cost $250 to search for them. <a href="https://www.muckrock.com/foi/massachusetts-1/emails-between-commonwealth-fusion-center-and-private-security-firms-12295/">Help make them public!</a></em>
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- Feb. 11, 2010: MuckRock Founded, domain registered.
- Feb. 8, 2013: Spam account attacked site, created approximately 996 dummy accounts named Susan Esque and made several attempted transactions with non-functioning credit cards.
- Feb. 15, 2013: Spam accounts deleted.
- Feb. 26, 2013: Tried out first iteration of filing multi-agency requests. 196 emails sent, but all to one agency. Deleted 196 requests.
- November 21, 2013: Started forwarded non-actionable, duplicated response emails [email protected].
- Dec. 6, 2014: Redesign rolled out. — July 18, 2016: Moved out of Globe, into Geek Offices location in Inman.
In this section we've compiled some resources aimed at aspiring FOIA ninjas. By no means is it exhaustive but it should certainly get you started along the right path.
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More reading.
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More reading.
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Still more reading.
LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS
Our very own Requester's Voice series provides a wealth of useful tips and tricks from prolific FOIA filers.
Exploring this series is a great way to pick up some more nuanced strategies that go beyond 'be specific in your request language'. Additionally, most of the people featured in the series have great requests that are ripe for copying to different jurisdictions.
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Since MuckRock is at once a community and a service we need to foster that community by making sure that our service is working well for our users.
This sections deals with user issues and troubleshooting.
MuckRock uses [email protected] to interact with users. Here we address questions that people have concerning FOIA strategy, their accounts, payments, and anything else related to people interacting with MuckRock.
Think of it as an advice/customer service portal.
User issues can range from 'I need help submitting a request' to 'An agency is addressing 10 separate requests on one request page, HALP!?!'.
All of these questions and more wind up in the 'Info' Inbox. If the problem simply requires an answered question, we send that answer through [email protected]. If a specific request is Flagged we address that issue individually.
Flags allow users to submit and issue or ask a question about a specific request. A flagged request goes to the Requests Inbox and gets labelled FLAG.
If the question involves action on MuckRock's end we take the necessary measures and then inform the users what we've done via [email protected], including links when appropriate.
Whether a simple question or a flagged request way we strive to both address the issue at hand and educate a user on how they might have better success next time around. Your first few months at MuckRock won't involve much user troubleshooting but as you become familiar with the intricacies of FOIA and the inner workings of MuckRock, answers to user questions will come naturally.
MuckRock.com has a Q&A board. On that board users can submit publicly facing questions that MuckRock staff answers for the public records community to see.
Find the Q&A board at https://www.muckrock.com/questions/.
Again this space will probably be addressed by the more seasoned FOIA geeks but by all means feel free to peruse and use the Q&A section. If you think you know the answer to a question, run it by a staff member and have at it.
Certain state freedom of information laws require the requester to be a resident of the state. MuckRock works around this by working with Proxy Requesters who have volunteered to file on behalf of other users who wish to file in their state.
Here is a list of states that bar out of state requesters. Proxies' names are listed on their individual state pages, linked to from the Q&A page.
We only use Proxy Filers if the agency rejects a request for out of state status, or the agency has previously rejected a request in such a way.
When a request is rejected because the user is out of state, currently we have to do the following (this will improve):
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Create a new account with the proxy user's name. Save the password, and set the email to info+[proxy user name]@muckrock.com.
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Refile the request with the new users name, and make explicit in the request language that this user is a citizen of the state.
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Mark the original request as rejected, and link over with a note in the sidebar to the new request.
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Make sure that the new request and old request have same embargo status.
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Email the user and let them know that the request was initially denied, but we've refiled with a proxy.
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Move the email and fax information for the agency in question to the Notes section (NOT public notes), as well as a note that this agency rejects out of state requesters and that requests here need to be filed through a proxy. These notes will be included at the top of future requests here.
Agreement is here, or saved in the Dropbox Scans Folder "Do Not Upload."
MuckRock maintains a few special accounts with different organizations. In some situations we submit requests on behalf of an institutions and in others we provide editorial content.
In both cases the accounts will typically be handled by a specific staff member through their personal MuckRock email or [email protected].
Suffice it to say that these relationships exist and you should be aware of their existence.
Since MuckRock provides both a service and published work our Bible accordingly references both operations. Up until this point the document has dealt with requesting documents and our protocols around the service.
MuckRock is at its best when it can show users and readers what can be accomplished by using the tools offered. Accordingly we write about public records. The remainder of this documents will deal with publishing at MuckRock.
The editorial schedule lives in a Google Calendar which will be shared with you during the onboarding process. If you don't already have access to the calendar, notify a staff member. In the meantime you can access the the Editorial Calendar through the Google account associated with the Requests Inbox.
Articles are roughly divided into a few categories, with certain days associated with said categories-
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Mon - Heavy/General News
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Tue - Light/DoN
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Wed - FOIA 101/Requester Horror Stories/Good Agency Bad Agency
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Thu - Light/DoN
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Fri - Requester Voices/Weekend Read
Check the Article Leads google doc for more clarification on these categories. While not set in stone, try to cleave to these cats as closely as possible, to create a sense of editorial consistency.
Note that this schedule is subject to the whims of analytics, so check in every now and then.
On the Editorial Calendar, their should be a static listing of the day’s theme up top, and a mutable daily listing. So a Friday would have the heading “Requester Voice” with a day-specific listing for “ARTICLE TYPE - ARTICLE NAME - ARTICLE AUTHOR”
A staff member should have shared this Google document with you. If not, it is available through the Google account associated with the Requests Inbox.
Use this document to submit story ideas and pick stories you are interested in pursuing. Ideally this space will be overflowing with ideas so that there is always something in the pipeline.
This document lives in Articles section of MuckRock's admin interface. It details the use of our quirky article posting process. Use this the first time you sit down to write for MuckRock or any time you forget how to perform an article related task.
The user facing version is available here:
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2020/apr/17/how-write-muckrock-article/
Use the admin version to copy/paste code snippets and look at different Markdown syntax.
GENERALLY FOLLOW AP AND DON'T USE THE OXFORD/SERIAL COMMA?? GENERALLY FOLLOW AP AND DON'T USE THE OXFORD/SERIAL COMMA?? GENERALLY FOLLOW AP AND DON'T USE THE OXFORD/SERIAL COMMA?? GENERALLY FOLLOW AP AND DON'T USE THE OXFORD/SERIAL COMMA?? GENERALLY FOLLOW AP AND DON'T USE THE OXFORD/SERIAL COMMA?? GENERALLY FOLLOW AP AND DON'T USE THE OXFORD/SERIAL COMMA?? GENERALLY FOLLOW AP AND DON'T USE THE OXFORD/SERIAL COMMA?? GENERALLY FOLLOW AP AND DON'T USE THE OXFORD/SERIAL COMMA??
We promote our writing using Twitter and Facebook but also by soliciting publications with very short, unobtrusive emails.
We have a database of places and people to pitch in this Google Doc. We've found that short and sweet works best:
Dear John Reporter,
MuckRock just received these documents about exploding toilets in federal government buildings. I thought you might be interested.
Cheers,
Jane Doe,
MuckRock
Use the social media wisely. No Twitter battles. LALALA
Markdown is a tool that many media organizations use to write in plain text and get back HTML. It's very useful and easy. This document is written in Markdown. All MuckRock articles are writing in Markdown. Really it's not much different than writing in a Word or some other word processing program. To learn the intuitive syntax visit the documentation over here.
Markdown editors:
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Lightpaper: a light but nicely featured Mac desktop client.
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MarkdownPad: a crummy piece of PC software for editing Markdown. (All pieces of PC software are crummy.)
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Dillinger.io: for writing in Markdown right in your web browser.