How to ensure you get to the truth with your eyewitness media newsgathering – and how to make sure you can use it safely!

1. SOCIAL SHERLOCKING
Flickr/shining.darkness

8. SOURCE: FIRST DRAFT
DATA: GALLUP/US, EDELMAN/UK, TNS/FRANCE

9. VISUAL SPELLCHECKER

10. 10

11. VERIFYING VIDEO
Flickr/GattonAcademy

12. 12

13. IS THIS HIS THE ORIGINAL VERSION?

14. 14

15. 15

16. z
http://www.amnestyusa.org/citizenevidence/

17. 17
Using keywords to check for other versions

18. LOCATION
DATE
SOURCE

19. VERIFYING THE SOURCE
• When was the YouTube account that hosts the
video created?
• Do past videos from the user come from the same
geographic area as the video in question? Red
flag if not.
• Are there any other social media accounts, such
as Twitter or Facebook, associated with this
YouTube account?

20. About profile checks

21. Reverse image search on profile pic

22. GEO SOCIAL FOOTPRINT

23. • Who and what is shown in the video? What is
identifiable? Clothes, signs, weaponry, vehicle
types? Are there any textual, visual or audio clues
that might help to manually geo-locate the video?
• Are there other videos (or pictures) of the same
event - potentially from a different angle - that
could confirm the incident or reveal new features
or insights?
VERIFYING CONTENT - LOCATION

24. 24CASE STUDY #1

25. 25CASE STUDY #1

26. CASE STUDY #1

27. 27CASE STUDY #1

28. WIKIMAPIA

29. CASE STUDY #2

30. CASE STUDY #2

31. VERIFYING CONTENT - DATE
• When did the incident occur? Do weather
conditions fit local weather reports? Do clothes
match up with weather conditions for the date/time
in question?
• Do events recorded in the video line up with news
or other open source reporting?

34. IRAN: DECEMBER 9, 2009?
SOURCE:www.observers.france24.com

35. LOCATION
DATE
SOURCE

36. COMMUNITY FOR VERIFICATION

37. • @StoryfulPro
• @Reportedly
• @Grasswirefacts
• @PicPedant
• @RevealEU
• @Observateurs - France
• @disinformatico - Italy
• @ghazayel - MENA
• @viralgranskaren - Sweden
• @StopFakingNews - Ukraine
ACCOUNTS TO FOLLOW

38. https://grasswirenewsroom.slack.com

39. https://bellingcat.checkdesk.org

40. Debunking, when done right, is a click machine.
Julien Pain, Observateurs

41. @decodeurs - Le Monde, 46K
@Observateurs - France 24,144K
@LibeDesintox - Liberation, 22K
@Verifie - Buzzfeed, 1300
Fact checking accounts in France

42. APPROACHING AN EYEWITNESS

43. SOURCE: http://firstdraftnews.com/
Approaching an eyewitness

44. • Create a common place to avoid duplication
• There are CMS solutions for that, i.e. www.samdesk.io
• Check @-replies, be super respectful
• Reminding people not to take risks
• If sensitive, ask how they want to be credited
Approaching an eyewitness

45. 45
Response from a person who uploaded a picture to Instagram during
the shooting at the Canadian parliament in October 2014.
SOURCE: http://verificationhandbook.com/book2/chapter9.php
Approaching an eyewitness

46. 46SOURCE: Eyewitness Media HUB http://bit.ly/1lnldTK

47. SOURCE: The Guardian, http://bit.ly/1lIrSYu
Chelsea fans prevent black man boarding Paris
metro train. Eyewitness video.

48. “I only see my lawyer, my psychologist. My family are
divided because of this incident, and this humiliation I
have experienced. My children are traumatised by
what they’ve seen on TV.”
Souleymane S:
SOURCE: BBC Radion 5 Interview http://bbc.in/1Ndlj7o

49. 49
FIRST DRAFT NEWS:
http://firstdraftnews.com/
http://firstdraftnews.com/the-first-draft-toolbox-for-
newsgathering-and-verification/
http://firstdraftnews.com/resource/visual-verification-guide-
video/
CHECKLIST NEWSLETTER:
http://tinyletter.com/Checkdesk_Checklist
VERIFICATION HANDBOOK:
http://verificationhandbook.com/
RESOURCES

50. IF YOU REMEMBER ONE THING:

51. IF YOU REMEMBER ONE THING:
REVERSE-IMAGE CHECK EVERYTHING

52. julia.karmo@gmail.com
https://twitter.com/juliakarmo/lists/verification
@juliakarmo