> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.seegov.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.seegov.org/whats-new.md). # What's New Have ideas for SeeGov? I'm Alex, the founder, and I want to hear them. Let me know how to make SeeGov better for you—or what needs fixing—at . Your feedback shapes what gets built and when. ## Putting the “Where” in Video Headlines *October 18, 2026* The five Ws matter, even in a short headline. Suggested social video headlines now include an informal government name, helping viewers tell which local council, school board, or other body the story involves. Thanks to SeeGov super user Julie D’Aloiso of [NEOhio.news](https://neohio.news/) and Becky McLachlan of [The Citrus Tea](https://thecitrustea.com/) for helping shape this update. Both cover multiple governments in their regions, where that little bit of context matters. ## Easier Clip Editing in Refine *October 2, 2026* You can now adjust the start or end of an existing clip in Refine without deleting it and creating it again. The controls for canceling an edit or deleting a clip are also easier to reach. I’ve also clarified the intro and description wording and the review reminder in Compose for Highlight Reels. Thanks to Jason Daniels for his suggestions on clip editing and wording, and to users at TAPinto and Bay City News for sharing where the workflow was confusing. Their feedback prompted me to spend some time making this part of Backstage easier to use. ## Backstage Help Within Reach *October 2, 2026* There’s now a Help menu beside Updates in Backstage, with a guide for the screen you’re using, keyboard shortcuts, and troubleshooting tips. Help opens in a new tab so you can keep your place while you look something up. Suggestions for improving these guides are welcome. If something is missing or unclear, please let me know at . ## Meetings API for Newsroom Integrations *September 19, 2026* SeeGov now offers a Meetings API for approved organizations. It gives newsroom integrations read-only access to available meeting transcripts, detected agenda items, and moment summaries for the governments their organization covers. Newsrooms can import available meeting history, then poll for newly processed meetings. Sapna Satagopan at [NEWSWELL](https://asunewswell.org/) has had very favorable results experimenting with a reporting workflow that incorporates SeeGov data. This API will let the NEWSWELL team automate and expand that workflow across the organization, while linking reporters directly to the relevant meeting or moment in Backstage. Access is arranged directly with SeeGov. See the [Meetings API documentation](https://docs.seegov.org/api), or email if your organization is interested. ## Search Across Meetings *September 3, 2026* I'm excited to make meeting search available in Backstage. News organizations in North Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia, Florida, and elsewhere have signed up for SeeGov, but some needed a practical way to search across many governments before they could make meaningful use of the platform. Now they can search meeting content across many governments and jump directly to matching moments and transcript passages. This functionality will also help local newsrooms covering fewer governments do deeper research, producing more and better local government reporting. The "Spoken by" filter is marked as experimental for now, primarily because the speaker ID functionality on which it depends needs improvement. As always, if you have feedback on this feature, or any other part of SeeGov, please let me know at . ## A More Comfortable Backstage Workspace *August 28, 2026* Backstage now works better on wider, shorter screens. The biggest change is in **Find**: it opens with more room for moments, the transcript and player are better balanced, and moment notes are easier to scan. If you previously adjusted your layout, try the new defaults by choosing **Reset Layout** in the account menu in the upper-right. I had already seen layout issues in screenshots from users. More recently, a few [Chicago Documenters](https://www.citybureau.org/chicago-documenters) tested SeeGov and one noted the issue. Helping Documenters bring more local government information to residents has long been a goal for SeeGov, so I prioritized this work. Thanks to the Documenters for their feedback! If this is not an improvement for you, please let me know at . ## Contributed Audio for Meeting Coverage *August 21, 2026* Backstage users can now upload audio-only meeting recordings when official recordings are not available. SeeGov turns the audio into a waveform video, so it can use the same transcription, review, clipping, and distribution workflow as any other meeting. Contributed video uploads began when Springfield, Illinois' mayor said public comment would be excluded from official meeting videos. She quickly relented so it hasn't been used much. This expansion to audio is to support [The River Reporter's News Ambassador](https://riverreporter.com/news-reports/) volunteers who document meetings without official recordings. ## Publication Logos on Highlight Reel Title Cards *July 28, 2026* Highlight Reel title cards have a new design that gives publication logos more prominence while keeping government names, meeting dates, and bylines clear. The layout adapts to square and horizontal logos as well as long government names and bylines. Publication logo updates are not yet self-service. If your logo is missing or needs to be changed, email me at . ## Captions You Control for Social Videos *July 26, 2026* When posting a Social Video, you can now choose to use a default Reel caption, write your own, or post without a caption. If you included a headline in your video, the default caption includes it. For custom captions, just be aware that links in Instagram captions are not reliably clickable, and caption text is difficult to copy in the app (boo). You can always include a link in your Instagram bio and reference it in your caption. On Facebook, if you link your social video to a Highlight Reel, the caption will include a direct link to it. Thanks to Nicci Kadilak of [Burlington Buzz](https://www.burlington.buzz/) for sharing what would make SeeGov work better for her on Instagram. ## Simple Government Coverage Requests *July 25, 2026* If the government bodies you want to cover are not yet on SeeGov, you can now request them directly from **Manage Your Governments**. Select **Request a government**, choose the state, and enter one or more body names. Your request goes straight to the SeeGov team. Thanks to Jason Daniels of [The Frame](https://www.accessfram.tv/theframe) for sharing SeeGov with community media teams across the country. The growth spurt he created made it the right time to move this item off the back burner. ## Easier Government Search for Broader Coverage *July 22, 2026* Reporters often cover communities well beyond their own ZIP code, and may know a government's name without knowing its ZIP code. **Manage Your Governments** can now search by government, county, or state as well as ZIP, making it easier to build a list for broader coverage. ## Clearer Meeting Identification *July 14, 2026* Meeting pages now show the original video title and links to available source information. Find Meetings also organizes source details more clearly, making it easier to distinguish committees and meeting types. Thanks to Sapna Satagopan of [NEWSWELL](https://asunewswell.org/), whose question about a San Diego committee meeting prompted the improvement. ## Optional Headline and Subtitles for Social Videos *July 13, 2026* You can now turn off the headline, subtitles, or both when finalizing a social video. You can use the resulting plain vertical video as-is or take it into other tools for custom fonts, layouts, and other production needs beyond what SeeGov supports today. Thanks to Nicos Michels of [Heartland Signal](https://heartlandsignal.com/) for requesting this option. ## Clearer Place Names Across States *July 11, 2026* Find Meetings now shows state abbreviations with government names in both search suggestions and meeting results, making it clear which place each meeting belongs to. Thanks to Julie D'Aloiso of [NEOhio.news](https://neohio.news/) for catching this when Lakewood, Ohio's meetings were shown together with Lakewood, Colorado's. This was a bit embarrassing, but also a nice reminder of SeeGov's growth. ## Transcript Profanity Masking Removed *June 5, 2026* Transcript profanity masking is now turned off. We had been using a default setting that replaced profanity and plenty of words that were not really profanity with asterisks, which made transcripts harder to read than they should have been. Thanks to Paul Woolverton of [CityView NC](https://www.cityviewnc.com/) for bringing this to my attention. Please keep sharing even the small annoyances you run into. That kind of feedback makes SeeGov better. ## Faster Video Generation *May 30, 2026* Generating your videos is now significantly faster. Most highlight reels generate more than **5x faster**, and social videos take about **half the time** to process. Try out the new speeds and let me know if it's important to speed things up further. Thanks to Wes Platt of [Southpoint Access](https://soduwelikelocal.news/) for noting how long generation times for large reels were delaying community news, and Morgan Mullings of [Miramar News](https://www.miramarflnews.com/) for pointing out that social video generation was taking much longer than TikTok. ## Resizable Review Workspace *May 16, 2026* You can now drag dividers to resize the transcript, player, and bottom portion of the workspace when reviewing meetings and creating highlights. SeeGov will remember your layout. If you want to start fresh, choose **Reset Layout** from the account menu in the top right to return to the defaults. Based on feedback from Sayaka Matsuoka of [Greensboro Thread](https://greensborothread.com/) and Paul Woolverton of [CityView NC](https://www.cityviewnc.com/) regarding moments and transcript spacing, the workspace was made flexible to accommodate different user needs. ## Backstage Keyboard Shortcuts *May 16, 2026* The Backstage player now supports keyboard shortcuts for faster meeting review: * `j` — back 10 seconds * `l` — forward 10 seconds * `k` or `Space` — play or pause * Left arrow / Right arrow — back or forward 5 seconds * `Ctrl` + Left arrow / Right arrow — previous or next moment or clip * `f` — toggle fullscreen * `m` — toggle mute Thanks to Paul Woolverton of [CityView NC](https://www.cityviewnc.com/) for the suggestion. Paul shifted his workflow to use SeeGov directly rather than YouTube but he missed the shortcuts. This update should make SeeGov work better for him and others. ## Journalist/Creator Personal Intros *May 13, 2026* You can now record your own video—or just audio—intros when refining moments. Easily add context, share your perspective, and build trust with your audience. If you prefer using a camera other than your desktop webcam, you can record on your phone and upload directly by scanning a QR code. Thanks to Zack Adams of [Illinois Times](https://www.illinoistimes.com/) for supporting the idea, and Laura Frank of [Colorado News Collaborative](https://colabnews.co/) for pushing it up the priority list. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. 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