#Bellingcat online toolkit verification

“For better or worse, it’s increasingly clear that video has an outsized impact in getting your investigation in front of eyeballs and moving the needle in terms of accountability,” admits Philp. For more on this, check out GIJN’s Online Advanced Search resource page and this “Search Smarter by Dorking” guide in the (( ).Instead, try “scale,” or something that would actually appear on a map. For example, when searching DuckDuckGo, Bing, Yahoo, Google or other search engines for a particular map, many people will include the word “map” in their search, even though that word usually doesn’t appear in the results. Many people think too literally when querying search engines. “Sometimes, the best stuff is the stuff right in front of us, the Google search bar or Twitter advanced search,” Philp says. “Righteous indignation can draw even bad actors to the interview.” For some reason, officials often respond to overseas investigators more readily than domestic ones.Īnother tip is to question an official’s decision that is not in question. Philp has also heard investigators have luck getting nervous officials or elusive interviewees to talk by asking a foreign colleague to call them. should contain serious research on the topic not random papers. This often gives the impression that the story is not really about the subject whom the reporter is hoping to interview.

#Bellingcat online toolkit verification

On a subconscious level, the sight of a voluminous file under a reporter’s arm implies that the reporter knows most of the facts already and is only seeking verification or an extra fact or two. But a conversation with The New York Times’s Ross Buettner tipped Philp off to a simple trick: carry a thick folder (binder) under your arm.

people who don’t expect you showing up or calling) to speak to you is a common challenge for even the most seasoned investigators. To grab a sources’s attention, bring a folder or phone a friend overseas

But after speaking to reporters from Peru to Russia over the past few years, Rowan Philp recommends the following tips and methods, which are often low-tech or no-tech at all.ġ. With countless muckraking methods and digital tools emerging every week, it can be difficult to keep up for new investigators.

In other words, he investigates the investigators and reports on the reporters, and, in the process, unearths some of the most innovative tricks of the trade. “I go around to the world’s best investigative journalists, twist their arms to get them to tell me how they pulled off their major stories, and identify which techniques are transferable to reporters in other countries,” Philp explains. This article provides a snapshot from Anne Koch and Rowan Philp's session “Learning from the Best: Resources for every investigator” at the Investigation is Collaboration conference organised by Exposing the Invisible Project on 2-6 August 2021.Īs a reporter for the Global Investigative Journalism Network, an international association of investigative reporting organizations and a resource hub for investigators of all stripes, Rowan Philp has an enviable job. ThisĪrticle explores some of GIJN's learning and collaboration resources andĮxpert tips that are essential for anyone looking to expand their knowledgeĪnd connect with other investigators around the world. Tools and cases - and they are open to everyone, not just journalists. The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) has beenĭeveloping a massive list of online resources about investigation methods, Make Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, even abroad Pretend you’re not living in an autocracy