DocumentCloud is an
open-sourcesoftware as a serviceplatform that allows users to
upload, analyze, annotate, collaborate on and publish primary source documents. Since its launch in 2009, it has been used primarily by
journalists to find information in the documents they gather in the course of their reporting and, in the interests of
transparency, publish the documents. As of May 2023,[update] DocumentCloud users had uploaded more than 5 million documents.[3] Many of them are accessible via a
public search portal.
DocumentCloud's development has led to the creation of several notable open-source projects, including
Backbone.js,[4][5] Jammit and
Underscore.js.[6][7] The majority of funding for DocumentCloud has come from grants by the
Knight Foundation.
History
In 2009, journalists Scott Klein and Eric Umansky of
ProPublica and Aron Pilhofer of The New York Times received a Knight News Challenge
grant for initial development of the platform.[8][9][10][11] This first version of the DocumentCloud was built by the New York Times Digital team and included Elliott Malkin and Sascha Mombartz working on design and development by Jeremy Ashkenas, Ben Koski and Jake Harris.[12]Jeremy Ashkenas joined as lead developer, and DocumentCloud was incorporated as a
nonprofit organization. By September 2009, two dozen media outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune had signed on as beta testers.[13]
A public beta was announced[14] at the 2010 NICAR conference of
Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), and within a year contributing news organizations had uploaded 1 million pages.[15]
In 2011, DocumentCloud received a second Knight News Challenge grant,[16] dissolved its own nonprofit entity, and
merged with the nonprofit Investigative Reporters and Editors.[17][18] Since then, IRE has assumed primary responsibility for maintenance and development of the platform as well as managing its grant funding.
DocumentCloud received a third Knight grant in summer 2014, with primary goals including improved platform stability, new features, and developing a plan for financial sustainability.[19] Since its start, DocumentCloud accounts have been free to journalism organizations, but the organization has announced it will be implementing a pay model.[20]
On June 11, 2018, DocumentCloud and
MuckRock announced they would be merging.[21]
Open-source projects
In addition to the platform itself, development of DocumentCloud has led to the creation of several open-source projects:
^Ashkenas, Jeremy (13 October 2010).
"Code Drop: Backbone.js". DocumentCloud Blog. Archived from
the original on 28 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.