<aside> đź“š See our other Guides and Manuals: Get the Most Out of MuckRock and DocumentCloud for more tips and tricks on getting the most out of MuckRock tools. And if this was helpful to you, consider making a donation to support our work!
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See also: https://www.documentcloud.org/help/faq#verification
Some services provided by MuckRock are only available to verified newsrooms. These include:
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This page is still under construction. If you have a question or feedback about how we can make it more clear, please let us know by emailing [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]?subject=Manuals_Feedback_Verification)
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You will need to be a member of an organization that has already been verified. When you log in at accounts.muckrock.com you will see any organizations you’re a member of on the right hand sidebar. Most users will only be members of one or two organizations.
If you select the organization, you can quickly see whether or not there’s a green “Verified” button below the organization’s name. You can also see whether nor not the organization is “Hub Eligible” or eligible to access the Knight Election Hub.
If you are in a newsroom that already has a verified MuckRock account, the fastest way to get started is to open the organization's page and use the "Request to Join" link -- you will be able to see the full list of admins who can approve your request, so you can also reach out directly to the right person.
MuckRock manages two “verification” systems.
In general, we will extend verification to newsrooms, academic institutions, researchers, legal clinics and non-profits that have a track record of posting vetted primary source materials in the public interest. Verified users are expected to abide by journalistic best practices, such as those outlined in the SPJ's Code of Ethics: https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
Eligibility for the Knight Election Hub has wound down, but some newsrooms will show a “Hub Eligible” tag indicating that they met that somewhat narrower set of standards.
DocumentCloud is not a platform designed for advocacy work or to host press releases, marketing brochures, original articles or other materials generated primarily to promote or market a cause or organization.
Our verification process is designed to ensure that you and your organization or project are a good match for DocumentCloud and other restricted services.
Unless you are requesting verification as an independent journalist, you will need a MuckRock account for your organization. Please note that we strongly prefer to verify organizations, rather than individual users. You can search existing organizations or create a new one at accounts.muckrock.com
When you log in, visit https://documentcloud.org and if you are not a member of a verified organization already, you will see a note inviting you to request verification. Follow those instructions to access the form. It will be prefilled with data that we need to process your request.