Allowing the audience to see documents firsthand

Have you ever thought ‘I wonder where they got that information from?'

I have too. That’s why I truly believe the media should give their audience full access to their documents they quote (if they can). Here’s an article from the Chicago Tribune using DocumentCloud to tell a story about pension payouts. 

What’s different about it?

If you scroll down the story, you can tell this isn’t your typical text story. As the writers explain what happened, they show you exactly what’s in the document by taking out excerpts from the document.

Why I like it.

This is where online journalism can flex its newly formed muscles and grin. While a newspaper or broadcast could potentially show their audience the raw documents, it wouldn’t be as presentable as online. I love proving to people that journalists are out to use their rights, do some good and get information to offer to the public.

Why you should like it.

This kind of document sharing is great because many people don’t trust the media and by giving them the raw details and information, they will have exactly what the reporter has in front of them to read word for word if they like. This is also great because, really, how many people are going to sign up for an account to get these files and dig to find the right one? Not many. This is where journalists come in and hand it their audience on a pretty silver platter with the Bill of Rights sitting next to it.

P.S. I did something similar to this when TCU 360’s managing editor and I sourced a police report following the arrests of multiple TCU students and athletes in Feb. 2012.