Armchair Investigative Journalism with Impact

Eliot Higgins, author of the highly acclaimed Brown Moses blog, is an expert in social media forensics and recently launched a site called Bellingcat to expand his investigations using open source information and help others gain valuable skills for uncovering breaking news stories.

Higgins started out documenting weaponry used in the Syrian conflict in 2012.  Through daily monitoring of over 500 different YouTube channels, Twitter and other social media tools from his home in Leicester in the United Kingdom, Higgins has revealed the locations of smuggling routes for bringing in Croatian arms to Syria, how cluster munitions and chemical weapons were used in the conflict and much more.

He is now considered to be a specialist in his field, with journalists and media outlets regularly quoting his work. He hopes the new website—which includes articles, webinars, podcasts and how-to pieces—will aid and encourage other people interested in becoming citizen journalists to do so through the use of open source investigation.

Can you tell me a little about what Bellingcat is and the goals you hope to achieve in setting it up?

Bellingcat is my attempt to solve a problem I have encountered in my work in recent years. I used to go to a lot of journalism events where all these great new tools were being discussed and I saw how people would go, get excited and then forget all about them. A lot of these involve using open source investigation, such as social media or government records, to investigate interesting stories. This massive resource wasn’t being used and I thought it was such a waste.

The website will be dedicated to writing about what we’re investigating using open source information, what we’ve learnt from it. It will give advice to other people on how they can do the same.

Who are its contributors?

Well we’ve got quite a few people signed up to write. For instance, Peter Jukes, who is doing a lot on the phone hacking trials, all of which is based on open source information. We’ve also got a chemical weapons expert and there’s podcasts on the website as well. I’ve actually just started the Brown Moses podcast, which talks to people who work with open source information. And then there’s Aaron Stein’s podcast, which discusses the Middle East and arms control; and another with Middle East expert Karl Morand.

What topics is Bellingcat focusing on and who will use it?

We’ve focused quite a bit on the MH17 crash, which has involved a lot of people working together. For example, a team of people collaborated to analyze images of the missile launcher that was used, by analyzing videos and photos posted on social media. We’ve also done a lot on the “Fake Sheik’” among other things.

It’s intended for anyone interested in using open source information, which is an increasing number of people. There are a number of journalists and NGOs also interested but basically it’s for anyone who realizes this is a valuable resource for gathering information.

Can you explain the technology behind it?

Bellingcat on its own is quite a straightforward website but it’s going to have satellite projects around it. So for instance, we’re using something called Checkdesk that allows you to collaboratively analyze data on a relatively straightforward platform. It’s quite similar to Google Plus in that you create these stories, much like a blog post, and within that, we’ll say, okay, let’s discuss this process or part of a missile, say, and then you’ll have a step-by-step process of people talking about it. So basically, analytical discussions are embedded in blog posts. Afterwards you can write about a conclusion you came to and show exactly how you came to find it. Discussions on Twitter aren’t as good because conversations disappear after a few days.

What falls under the category of open source information? Can anyone develop the skills to use it?

Pretty much anything that’s out there and available. So for Syria I use YouTube videos, Facebook posts, government records to do with business discussions, that kind of thing.

Anyone can learn these skills. It isn’t so much an issue of training but an issue of awareness. People simply don’t know the information is out there. With Bellingcat people can come on board, learn them and apply them to their own work. There are a lot of journalists and writers working for mainstream papers that don’t know about these techniques and tools. The website will give some training to change that.

What can open source information be used for?

Open source information can be very valuable for a number of things. Investigating corruption is one example. The OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) has done lots of great stuff using it. Otherwise I’ve used it to track the use of cluster munitions in Syria and chemical weapons including the August 21, 2013 Sarin attack and the more recent use of chlorine barrel bombs. Other organizations have used videos from Syria to map out thousands of armed groups, and recently we used information from Ukrainian social media posts to track the movements of the missile launcher linked to the downing of MH17.

Can you tell me a little about your experience in using open source information for the Syrian conflict?

Open source information has been very useful in Syria as journalists have very little access and so it enables you to get a good overview of the conflict but also to drill down into the specifics. So take the August 21 chemical attacks, I was able to find pretty precise information about where the frontlines were, where robotics were mounted and this wouldn’t otherwise have been known. What’s also interesting is that the information national governments were putting out for these attacks was very limited compared to my own.

How time-consuming is it?

It can be very but collaborating with other people makes it a lot faster. For instance, when I saw a video from the MH17 crash and posted a message saying, “does anyone have an idea where this could be?” Within five minutes I had 10 answers, nine of which were correct. So that took no time at all. This is another thing I’m keen to show with Bellingcat, that people can collaborate to get good and quick results. Good investigative journalists work on a good story for a long time on their own but with open source information, the information is already out there. So it’s a race to see how quickly you can figure something out and the best way to do that is collaboratively.

What obstacles do you face using open source information?

It’s really about knowing your battles. Sometimes you’ll see a picture and you’ll think there’s no chance that it will get verified. But I’ve been proven wrong especially with MH17. We’ve had about five or six videos pop up and I thought we’d never be able to figure it out, but with different people using a whole range of sources we were. Working collaboratively produces great results.

Today journalists go to trusted gate keepers for information, people like me who have built up a network of trust. People send me something, I review it, give it the thumbs up and then journalists are happy to use the information. But there are a lot of people producing good work that aren’t taken seriously because they’re not recognized yet. I think that’s an interesting dynamic that’ s grown organically over the past two years and it needs to be acknowledged. Otherwise we’ll lose valuable work and information. The great thing with open source information is that, unlike a person, there’s no need to trust it, you can see it very clearly for yourself.

Do you think open source information will play a big role in journalism in the future?

Open source information will definitely play a big part in journalism. MH17 has already demonstrated how useful it can be in a breaking news event of this magnitude. There are so many great untapped tools that have been around for years but very few people have started using them. But I’m hoping that soon we’ll end up with more and more skilled people, journalists and non-journalists who know how to do these investigations that are capable of producing great and important results.

Why is the new site called Bellingcat?

It’s a reference to a fable called Bellingcat.  There’s a bunch of mice and they’re really afraid of a cat, so they decide to get a bell and put it around the cat’s neck. The website is about showing people how to bell the cat.