The Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting and the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism will host an open source investigations training, known as OSINT, for student and professional journalists Oct. 3-5 at WSB-TV, in Atlanta. On Thursday and Friday, training will take place from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. On Saturday, training will run from 9 a.m.-noon.
The event is being supported by the Scripps Howard Fund and Atlanta Association of Black Journalists.
The Society hosted a similar training earlier this year at the USC. Now USC is stopping by Atlanta, where the Society is based.
How has OSINT been used in the newsroom?
OSINT, which stands for Open-Source Intelligence, gathers information that is accessible through digital means—such as websites, social media, emails, text messages, public records, satellite imagery, and the deep web. It is used widely in law enforcement, cybersecurity, and competitive intelligence.
In journalism, it is one of the newest and most powerful forms of news reporting used by investigative journalists to generate evidence for long-form news reports. Some news organizations call it visual investigations or visual forensics.
The techniques have been used to produce reports that have earned several Pulitzer Prizes, including stories exposing Russian war crimes in Ukraine, Israel’s use of 2,000-pound bombs in areas it said Palestinian civilians would be safe, and the full scale of China’s detention camps in Xinjiang. The New York Times used OSINT skills to illuminate how the police killed Breonna Taylor and Tyre Nichols, while Bellingcat deployed them to identify the exact Russian agents who poisoned dissident Alexei Navalny.
What will I learn in this bootcamp?
Bootcamp participants will learn how to find, preserve, and analyze OSINT-gathered information, and turn it into incandescent stories.
Sessions will cover:
- Ethical and legal considerations of open-source investigations
- Best practices for capturing and preserving digital evidence
- Best practices for safeguarding yourself online
- Advanced search engine techniques
- Verifying images, videos, text, and other files
- Using social media and public records in your investigations
- Using satellite imagery to identify when and where a photo or video was taken
- Investigating websites and identifying other related websites and domains
What are the registration requirements to attend?
- This workshop is open to 20 students and 20 professionals.
- Registration is $25 for professionals and $10 for students. You must make an account with Submittable to register.
- The Society will offer lodging assistance for students traveling out of state for this event.
- Participants must be members of the Ida B. Wells Society. Sign up for your free membership here.
The Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting is a news trade organization dedicated to increasing and retaining reporters and editors of color in the field of investigative reporting.
The organization, which is spearheaded by veteran journalists, also seeks to educate news organizations and journalists on how the inclusion of diverse voices can raise the caliber, impact and visibility of investigative journalism as a means of promoting transparency and good government.
The Society is open to journalists of all races and backgrounds who support the mission and work of the organization. The Society welcomes all journalists interested in improving their investigative skills, not just those who are investigative reporters.
Learn more: https://idabwellssociety.org/about/
