On February 11th, 2010, when we first registered the MuckRock domain, we had no idea what we were in for. More important than any one request or news story we have helped with is the amazing community of those willing to fight for a more open, more accountable, and more responsive government for everyone. Thank you.

Just a few months after we started, we were threatened with a fine or jail for publishing information obtained via a request, and the fun has not stopped since then.

That first year, we helped our users file a little over a hundred requests. Now we often help file over a thousand requests a month. And all those requests have helped release a lot data:

But none of that would have been possible without all the journalists, researchers, activists, academics, hackers, government employees, and others who use the site every day to ask important questions and get answers through our right to public documents and data.

A lot has changed since 2010 (though a surprising number of agencies still rely a little too heavily on fax machines), but one thing that has not is the need for an informed and engaged public to make our democracy work for everyone. We have big plans for new ways to involve even more people in transparency work in the coming years, and new tools we can’t wait to offer both people new to the world of public records and long-time FOIA warriors. But today, as we approach our eighth birthday, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped make that work possible.

If you’d like to help us continue expanding our transparency efforts, please consider a tax-deductible donation …

or purchase in our swag store.

Image via Jimmy Carter Presidential Library