–It’s very rare that you’ll get to research secretive topics at the calibre of the Snowden revelations.
–So usually it’s not necessary to be paranoid about protecting you topic of research.
Then again, it is worth being paranoid about protecting your sources.
–Any fifth-grader knows how to Google things.
–A journalist needs to know more.
Surface web – easily found data / Deeper level – hard to find data / Deep web – secret area
Google cache – a couple of weeks / Wayback machine – permanent archive
–Does one have the right to remove embarrassing stuff from the web?
Take a screen shot every time you come across something exciting!
Unreliable sources, such as Vauva-foorumi (Baby forum, an active open discussion board known for funny content) may produce data worth researching.
–Wah wah!
Call the Bureau of Statistics!
–Hello there! You are the 147th caller of the day, the average age of our callers today is 34.
Data can be buried in images as companies and other agents wish to make it that much harder to research their documents.
EtsiXpertti is a service to find experts on various fields. Otherwise everyone would call (Finnish professor and general expert) Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila.
–Islam is a religion of peace.
EuroClear Finland – for finding information on stock ownership
Finland is full of themed physical archives to research.
A journalist can end up in trouble for not double-checking facts (like those given by the informant).
–Example: Sossu-Tatu, an article full of mistaken facts (a recently published article on ”Tatu”, a claimed welfare bum).
–A small journal can lose its entire reputation when it screws up. Helsingin Sanomat (the main Finnish newspaper) can’t.
Bubbles of similarly opinionated people are formed online.
–Me and my fishy friends!
Internet rumours & pranks
Example: Bonsai cats
–Oh my!
Learn to recognise trolling.
Beware of unreliable sources. Example: Fake Tweet Builder, fake screen shots
–I love taxes! –Tuomas E(nbuske, neoliberal journalist, active on Twitter).
Sometimes companies and governments seek to bluff journalists by acting as ”ordinary citizens”.
–Sure fooled me! (untranslatable wordplay)
Is the image authentic?
Google reverse image search
–Example: Natalya Nieminen (recently uncovered astroturfing case)
You can check physical addresses at Google Street View.
–Tax Paradise Inc. Headquarters
A smart search engine: Wolfram Alpha
Know what’s reporter’s privilege (protecting your sources), understand the risks of data transmission.
Use the HTTPS Everywhere plugin etc.
Use PGP or GPG to encrypt your email. Or Enigma in Thunderbird. Or Pidgin, Adium, OTR in chats…
–The more people use encrypted connections in the world, the more dissidents are safe…
–…as they are not the only ones using these services and thus picked by secret services.
And hey, if you want to be a good journalist:
Don’t conduct interviews by email.
This is not a dialogue.
–Wah wah.
