DocumentCloud is an

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

software as a service Software as a service (SaaS ) is a cloud computing service model where the provider offers use of application software to a client and manages all needed physical and software resources. SaaS is usually accessed via a web application. Unlike o ...

platform that allows users to

upload Uploading refers to ''transmitting'' data from one computer system to another through means of a network. Common methods of uploading include: uploading via web browsers, FTP clients, and terminals ( SCP/ SFTP). Uploading can be used in th ...

, analyze, annotate, collaborate on and publish primary source documents. Since its launch in 2009, it has been used primarily by

journalists A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

to find information in the documents they gather in the course of their reporting and, in the interests of transparency, publish the documents. DocumentCloud users had uploaded more than 5 million documents. DocumentCloud's development has led to the creation of several notable open-source projects, including Backbone.js, Jammit and Underscore.js. The majority of funding for DocumentCloud has come from grants by the

Knight Foundation The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also known as the Knight Foundation, is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts. The organization was founded as the Knight Memorial Education ...

History

In 2009, journalists Scott Klein and Eric Umansky of

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time reporters, and the resulting stories are distributed to ne ...

and Aron Pilhofer of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' received a Knight News Challenge grant for initial development of the platform. 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.

Jeremy Ashkenas Jeremy Ashkenas is a computer programmer known for the creation and co-creation of the CoffeeScript and LiveScript programming languages respectively, the Backbone.js JavaScript framework and the Underscore.js JavaScript library. While worki ...

joined as lead developer, and DocumentCloud was incorporated as a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

. By September 2009, two dozen media outlets including ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''The New York Times'' and the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' had signed on as beta testers. A public beta was announced at the 2010 NICAR conference of

Investigative Reporters and Editors Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences a ...

(IRE), and within a year contributing news organizations had uploaded 1 million pages. In 2011, DocumentCloud received a second Knight News Challenge grant, dissolved its own nonprofit entity, and

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

with the nonprofit Investigative Reporters and Editors. 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. Since its start, DocumentCloud accounts have been free to journalism organizations, but the organization has announced it will be implementing a pay model. On June 11, 2018, DocumentCloud and MuckRock announced they would be merging.

References

Sources

DocumentCloud's potential outside of Journalism
ProfHacker blog in ''The Chronicle of Higher Education''
Sunlight Foundation Introduction to DocumentCloud

Interview with DocumentCloud co-founder Aron Pilhofer by the Online Journalism Review

Neiman Lab's encyclopedia entry for DocumentCloud

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.documentcloud.org/ Cloud storage JavaScript libraries Internet properties established in 2009 2009 establishments in the United States File sharing communities Non-profit organizations based in Philadelphia