Save the date: 16 | 17 | 18 May 2025

A weekend with a view

Look closely at what is happening.
Ilse Aichinger

Fotoforum

How can you verify whether images show what they claim to be showing? How can an editorial team find out where a video was taken? Whether the footage is recent or years old? There is an increasing need for editorial teams to verify images. Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is making their lives easier. This term derives from the realm of intelligence services. OSINT journalists use all freely-available online sources: not only photos and videos; but also databases or satellite images. When engaged in open-source investigations, journalists increasingly assume roles similar to those of law enforcement officers. Investigative networks like Bellingcat or Forensic Architecture are specialised in this field. Lea Weinmann, editor of the investigative team of German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung illustrates this task referring to media coverage from areas torn by war and crises.