For the latest installment of GIJN’s My Favorite Tools series, we spoke with French freelance reporter Théo Englebert, who drew acclaim last year for revealing that Rwandan colonel Aloys Ntiwiragabo, who is suspected of participating in that country’s 1994 genocide, had been living in France for at least 14 years.
With more sophisticated AI technologies emerging, researchers warn that “deepfake geography” could become a growing problem. As a result, a team of researchers that set out to identify new ways of detecting fake satellite photos warn of the dangers of falsified geospatial data and call for a system of geographic fact-checking.
At the end of the year, GIJN compiles a list of its most viewed stories and resources. Here’s the listing for 2020’s top performing resources, including information on how to find satellite imagery and land ownership records for your investigations, as well as tips and strategies for freelancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, and more.
What was the magnitude of the Beirut port blast and how did it compare to other infamous explosions in history? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from August 31 to September 6 finds Reuters illustrating just how powerful last month’s blast was in relation to the Chernobyl disaster and other explosions. The Tampa Bay Times highlighted how a county sheriff’s office is using an algorithm to supposedly predict and intercept the criminals of the future, while The New York Times used satellite maps to show how physical and political geographies interact across the United States. ESPN has been looking into the potential of people in college football crowds to become COVID-19 super-spreaders, and Slate analyzed the overuse of the word “murmur” in the popular Twilight novel series.
Which communities are most economically affected by the coronavirus pandemic? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from May 25 to 31 finds the Toronto Star looking at the effects of Canada’s lockdown on different communities in the country, ProPublica sharing a tool that lets you explore United States federal government contracts related to the coronavirus, the Financial Times analyzing excess mortality in 19 countries, and the Knight Center for the Journalism in the Americas offering a free online course on ethics in data journalism.
For our series about journalists’ favorite tools, we spoke with investigative reporter Susan Comrie, whose corruption exposes have helped shake South Africa’s political scene. She described some of the tools and techniques she has deployed in ground-breaking investigations as part of the team at investigative journalism center amaBhungane.
What tools do you need to master as you head into your next investigation? We’ve rounded up some of GIJN’s most popular how tos from our story archives, as well as select items from our growing Resource Center.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from January 13 to 19 finds the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists exposing how Africa’s richest woman really made her fortune, The Washington Post using satellite imagery to show the disappearance of an entire lake in the Philippines, El País sharing the behind-the-scenes process of their work, and Mike Reilley curating a mega list of useful data journalism tools.
For our series about journalists’ favorite tools, we spoke with The New York Times’ Malachy Browne, a pioneer in the field of visual investigations. He told GIJN’s Gaelle Faure about the tools that help him recreate crime scenes, including satellite imagery, EXIF data viewers, 3D modeling, and more.
For our series about journalists’ favorite tools, we spoke with Joel Konopo of Botswana’s INK Centre for Investigative Journalism. He told GIJN’s Olivier Holmey all about how he uses satellite images to expose corruption, Cryptomator to encrypt sensitive files, and lots more.
