We opened the DocumentCloud floodgates less than six months ago and we’re still working hard to make DocumentCloud a better tool. We’re rolling out improvements at a healthy clip including SSL support, better documentation, and support for cross-newsroom collaboration. We continue to listen to feedback from our really incredible crop of beta testers (who now number close to 500!).
There are nearly 100 newsrooms participating in the DocumentCloud beta and requests are still pouring in. We’ve been doing a fair amount of outreach and more is in the works, but it turns out that our users are our best advocates: After John Addams in Great Falls, Montana, blogged about his experiences with DocumentCloud we were deluged with requests from Montana news organizations large and small.
Uses in Arizona, Chicago, Memphis
The really great stories about how reporters are using DocumentCloud continue to surprise all of us.
Not long after Arizona’s governor signed that state’s now infamous immigration law, the Arizona Republic published the bill in full, complete with annotations by a local law professor. Republic reporters told us that traffic to the annotated legislation outpaced the paper’s popular entertainment guide in its first weekend, and continues to draw traffic as the bill stays in the news.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, reporters at the Tribune have been uploading each document and transcript entered into evidence in former governor Rod Blagojevich’s corruption trial — the documents are just part of their extensive coverage of the trial.
In Memphis, the Commercial Appeal published a sample ballot alongside their voter guide.
These are just a few of the great uses reporters have put DocumentCloud to — there are many more great stories already out there and plenty of new ones on the way.