OVERVIEW

Open source investigations and verification is the process of confirming the accuracy and/or validity of any content, location or the identity of a person that may be featured in or support a story.

During a breaking news event such as a terrorist attack or an earthquake, newsrooms are flooded with numerous images and videos on social media allegedly depicting the event. Verification enables journalists to ensure that each image, video or audio piece they are including in the story is actually depicting the event in question.

Verification includes a host of tools and techniques that enables a journalist to gauge the credibility of what they are checking.

This module will focus on open source tools that can be used for any story you are covering. Thanks to these open source tools, verification has become its own form of journalism.

This verification module should take about an hour to finish. At the end is a knowledge check, which, to receive credit, you must complete.

Caution: Please note that this module contains sensitive images and sounds that may be considered disturbing.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Understand what open source digital verification includes.
• Identify the authenticity of digital content.
• Learn how to structure your digital verification assignments.