Online Investigative Techniques — GIJN Webinars and Workshops with Henk van Ess

Editor’s note: These webinars have now taken place. You can see the recording on GIJN’s YouTube channel. The first session is available here, and the second, here. The workshops were not recorded.

GIJN is pleased to announce four free digital events for journalists on cutting-edge online investigative techniques. They will be led by the globally-renowned data journalist, open source reporting expert and trainer, Henk van Ess. The December webinars are open to all and last for 90 minutes. The January workshops are limited to a maximum of 25 people, by application only and will last five hours. You can find the details on how to attend each session below.

Henk van Ess brings extraordinary expertise in digging out stories from open sources. In high demand as an instructor, van Ess has trained journalists and investigators at the Wall Street Journal, Axel Springer, ITV, NBC News, Buzzfeed, ProPublica, Bellingcat and Global Witness. Here’s a chance to learn practical skills from one of our most popular speakers at GIJN conferences.

WEBINARS — December 2020 (Open to all)

? Visual Search and Verification

Topics we will cover:

• Latest tools to do research with images and video, face recognition and how to search using colors.
• How to translate “visual” thinking into words, which helps to locate information hidden by Google’s search algorithm — invaluable for finding sources.

* Have your own computer ready to run practice searches during the session.

When: Tuesday, December 8: 9:00 am to 10:30 am EST (90 minutes)

Note: In English with translation offered in Arabic, French, and Russian.

? Investigating Social Media

Topics we will cover:

• How to search for “what,” “who,” and “when” on Instagram and Facebook
• Why LinkedIn deserves a second look: content search and decoding anonymous names
• Smart filtering techniques on Twitter and how to investigate deleted accounts

* Have your own computer ready to run practice searches during the session. You will need working accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

When: Tuesday, December 15: 9:00 am to 10:30 am EST (90 minutes)

Note: In English with translation offered in Arabic, French and Russian.

WORKSHOPS — January 2021 (By application only)

*We recommend that you attend the relevant webinar if you plan to attend one of the workshops. For example if you apply for the workshop on visual search, do also attend the webinar on visual search. Due to high demand, participants are limited to one workshop.

?️ Visual Search, Geolocation, and Verification

Topics we will cover:

• The art of geolocation and how to locate date and place from a photo or video: cases and exercises
• Verification of people, including how to do research on people with very common names
• Verification of facts and visual thinking as tools to finding useful documents online

* You will need to use your own computer to do some research yourself during this session.

When: Monday, January 11 from 8:00 to 13:00 EST (5 hours)

Note: In English only.

?️ Social Media Investigations

Topics we will cover:

• How to use smart filters in social media  (The Case of The Secretive Mining Company)
• Call L for Murder – how LinkedIn can help verify a murder case
• How to find information that is not on Google in social media

* You will need to use your own computer to do some research yourself during this session. For that, you need to have working Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram accounts.

When: Tuesday, January 26 from 8:00 to 13:00 EST (5 hours)

Note: In English only.

Watch our Twitter feed @gijn and newsletter for future events.