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.

A MuckRock user found an interesting memorandum from the late ‘70s in our recent assignment From the Archives: Memos mentioning Senator Joe Biden, in which the Central Intelligence Agency bemoaned the “burdens” placed on it by the recently strengthened Freedom of Information Act.

Partially due to Joe Biden’s time on the Senate Select Committee for Intelligence, a search of the Central Intelligence Agency’s CREST database returns thousands of records - news articles, memos, letters, and more - referencing the Senator.

MuckRock announced that it would be looking at the extent of drone use by municipalities, counties, and states throughout the country. Since then, individuals from Connecticut to California have responded to the call.

It’s summertime!

You know what that means: it’s the only time when the Middletown and Hamilton campuses of Ohio’s Miami University can stock the vending machines with the products of Pepsi’s competitors!