Investigative Techniques Reporting Tools & Tips
How to Verify Bystander Video
From the Minneapolis shootings to the Guthrie kidnapping, visual investigation skills are now mandatory. Here’s how to do it.
Topic
Investigative Techniques
94
posts
Tips and Tools for Investigating Leaks
Frederik Obermaier
Inside Cross-Border Investigations
Maria Teresa Ronderos
How to Investigate Online Scams
Damien Leloup
Investigating AI-Generated and Manipulated Images
Craig Silverman
Why Investigative Journalists Need Networks
Emilia Díaz-Struck
Tips and Tools for Reporting on Food Insecurity
Thin Lei Win
Practical Tips on Investigating Big Tech in Africa
Athandiwe Saba
Tips and Tools on Investigating Government Use of AI
Gabriel Geiger
Investigating with Satellite Images
Laura Kurtzberg
Investigative Techniques
Updated Test of 24 LLMs for Geolocation
Bellingcat ran a series of geolocation challenges using two dozen popular AI platforms, with varying results.
Global Academy Guides Resource Guide
Reporter’s Guide to Detecting AI-Generated Content
This guide offers journalists a new detection tool and seven advanced techniques for spotting probable AI-generated content.
Global Academy Webinars Resource Video
GIJN Africa Webinar: Investigating Revolutionary and Military Regimes
In this free online workshop, GIJN will convene four experienced African journalists to discuss how to dig out information from repressive regimes and military dictatorships on the continent.
Investigative Techniques Reporting Tools & Tips
How Newsrooms Are Using AI Chatbots to Leverage Their Own Reporting — and Build Trust
From the Philippines to the UK, a number of major newsrooms have created their own AI chatbots designed to respond using only that site’s trusted reporting archive and vetted databases as source material.
Resource Tipsheet
Investigating US Government — and Trump Administration — Influence in Your Country
The US government engages with virtually every country in the world and each new president can radically change its policy. Here’s GIJN’s updated tipsheet on digging into global US influence.
Resource Guide
The Oceans Investigations Guide
This encyclopedia from The Outlaw Ocean Project offers pointers for investigating ocean crimes and concerns.
Resource Guide Chapter
Introduction to Investigative Journalism: Collaborations
The rewards of collaborating can be huge for investigative journalists: greater visibility of your story, increased potential for impact and in some cases better protection.
Investigative Techniques Press Freedom
Mining Social Media and Visiting Morgues to Document Police Violence in Bangladesh
“Our priority was to reveal what the government was trying to hide,” says Zyma Islam about the work of her team in the weeks that changed her country.
Investigative Techniques Reporting Tools & Tips
Beginner’s Guide to Identifying Explosive Ordnance in Social Media Imagery
The rise of conflict imagery on social media has provided open source researchers valuable material to identify explosive ordnance.
Investigative Techniques Methodology
Investigating Russia’s Proliferating Use — And Supply — Of Attack Drones Against Ukraine
A cross-border investigation into Russia’s use of drones in Ukraine includes how drones are assembled despite sanctions, and cooperation with Tehran to produce UAVs on Russian soil.
Investigative Techniques Reporting Tools & Tips
Tips for Using ChatGPT as a Quick Search Tool in Investigations
At IRE24, investigative reporter Jeremy Jojola shared his practical advice on how to use ChatGPT for contact searches and quick document analysis.
Investigative Techniques Methodology
Embracing Failure: The Importance of Learning from Your Mistakes in Open Source Reporting
Small amounts of failure in the open source field are inevitable, and somewhat expected. But they will also help you become a better open source analyst and investigator.
How They Did It Investigative Techniques
How Reporting From Six Years Ago Exposed a Political Fundraising Scandal That Rocked India’s Elections
Poonam Agarwal explains how her reporting six years ago ultimately led to one of the biggest political fundraising scandals in a decade.
Databases Investigative Techniques
Guide to Investigating Digital Ad Libraries
Digital investigations expert Craig Silverman offers a short guide to using digital ad libraries to dig through online influence efforts.
How They Did It Investigative Techniques
‘Smoke and Lies’: How Visual Forensics Disproved Official Accounts of a Deadly Migrant Center Fire
Lighthouse Reports journalists share how their cross-border collaboration investigated the deaths of 40 people in a fire at a migrant detention center.
Tipsheet Investigative Techniques Reporting Tools & Tips
Reporter’s Tipsheet for Acquiring Free Satellite Images
There is a treasure trove of compelling visual evidence out there that is going unused by many watchdog journalists. Here’s how to find it.
Investigative Techniques News & Analysis News & Analysis
Lessons Learned from the Fact-Checking Collective That Covered India’s National Elections
How a fact-checking collective in India fought misinformation and deepfakes in that country’s recently concluded elections.
Investigative Techniques Research
‘The Cost of Free Land’: Investigating a Personal and National Legacy of Indigenous Land Theft
Rebecca Clarren’s investigative history grapples with her immigrant family’s success at the expense of their Indigenous neighbors.