Use these digital forensics tools to find the story
The internet contains endless content — and that includes endless fake content. As misinformation becomes an increasing problem online, many journalists may be unsure how to verify content that may be spreading quickly, or at a loss for how to wade through the internet and find a story worth pursuing.
During an ONA19 panel on digital forensics, four journalists — Jane Lytvynenko, Ashley Feinberg, Malachy Browne and Michelle Baruchman — shared some of their favorite tools for gathering information and telling truth from fiction online.
- Reverse image search
- Exif data to learn more about when a photo was taken, and sometimes even where
- Image forensics
- Search operators (like “filetype: PDF”) to narrow down and find sometimes-hidden results
- Foller.me for Twitter analytics about any account
- Crowdtangle to see how content is spreading
- CloudApp automatically saves screenshots to an app for easy access and organization
- InVid EU to help verify video footage
Dig deeper: Digital Forensics: Using Social and Online Tools to Find Great Stories — one-hour session from ONA19
Featured experts: Jane Lytvynenko, Ashley Feinberg, Malachy Browne, Michelle Baruchman
Try this, too: Check out the full digital forensics tip sheet from the session. And for even more, Bellingcat has an up-to-date and very thorough list of online investigation tools that includes everything from apps to find contact information to tools that track global transport.
We’re always on the lookout for helpful resources and tips. If you have other examples to share, please reply directly to this email.
|
