Resources & tools for journalists

Published 06.01.2020
A collection of tools and resources especially useful for investigative journalists. Let us know if you have resources or useful links that can be shared.

Investigative 

Bellingcat’s Online Investigation Toolkit
Bellingcat’s freely available online open-source investigation toolkit. The list includes satellite and mapping services, tools for verifying photos and videos, websites to archive web pages, and much more.


SUJO - Senter for undersøkende journalistikk (Media City Bergen)
SUJO skal styrke den undersøkende journalistikken i Norge, med et spesielt ansvar for lokale og regionale medier og mindre redaksjoner.


Google News Initiative
The Google News Initiative is Google’s effort to work with the news industry to help journalism thrive in the digital age. Google News Initiative Training Center provides necessary tools for reporting a storytelling. 


Journalist’s Toolbox
Journalist's Toolbox contains thousands of free (and some fee-based) resources organized by beats on more than 150 searchable pages. The Toolbox is a free resource for start-up newsrooms, freelancers, entrepreneurs, educators and student publications. 


BIRN - Investigative Resource Desk
BIRN Investigative Resource Desk is an innovative interactive platform created for journalists who want to keep up-to-date with the fast-changing world of technology without sacrificing their ethics or the standards of professional journalism. BIRD provides investigative journalists with various types of assistance and a set of tools and resources relating, but not limited, to freedom of information, data access and protection, cyber security and open source datasets. Assistance is free and provided on a needs basis.


Paul Meyer´s Research Clinic
The Research Clinic website features the essential links, tools and study material for anyone involved in professional research and investigation. Additional links are regularly posted on the clinic's Twitter feed. This site accompanies the training courses delivered by Internet research specialist Paul Myers.


Global Investigative Journalism Network
A useful collection of different online resource tools.


Way Back machine
A way to find websites and content thats no longer available online. This tool can also reveal whether a someone previously presented a very different story than today.


Open Corporates
On of the largest open database of companies in the world.  


Data Portals 
A Comprehensive List of Open Data Portals from Around the World.


Sqoop
Sqoop is a platform that allows users to search for U.S. documents such as court records, business filings and other documents.

Maltego
Maltego empower investigators around the world to be more effective and efficient through technology that allows them to focus on their strengths.


Monitor people or a story

Feedly
Feedly is a feedreader where you can organize and read all your trusted sources in one place.


Google Alerts
Monitor the web with real-time alerts for new content based on keywords.


Hootsuite
Manage content and monitor activity on social media platforms as Twitter, Facebook, LinkeId, Instagram and YouTube.


Versionista
Monitor and track changes to websites.


Mentionmapp
A tool for visualization and exploration of Twitter networks, helps identifying online relationships and conversations by mapping users and hashtags.


Followerwonk
A platform for comparing Twitter users, search Twitter bios, analyzing, tracking and sorting of followers.


Myne
A mobile application where you can perform advanced Twitter searches with the help of filters, location searches and several other features.


Hunter.io
Hunter.io lets you find email addresses by searching for domains. If the email you´re looking for doesn't show up it guesses the formula the company uses for their emails.


Location

Geofeedia
The Geofeedia platform lets you monitor social media based on location and perform location-based analytics.


Newspaper Map
Find and translate online newspapers worldwide by searching the Newspaper Map.


Esri
Location intelligence - a powerful mapping and spatial analytics software.


Echosec
Gathers critical information from hidden online sources to support threat intelligence and risk mitigation.


Suncalc
Tool for analyzing the position of shadows and the sun at any given time and date, at any given location. 


Verification & Analysis

Visualyst
Support media with automated tools to help them avoid the many pitfalls of misinformation.

FirstDraft - Visual Verification Guide Photos
Guide for visual verification of photos.


Pipl 
Pipl collects, cross-references and connects online identity information from countless independent sources to build a digital identities with the highest integrity possible.


Tineye
Find where the searched image appears online and track them with this reverse image search platform.


Veracity
A mobile application for reverse image searches.


Web64
Tools that gives you a real-time overview of what is trending in your country or industry.

YouTube Dataviewer
Amnesty International's YouTube Dataviewer helps with finding the origin of YouTube videos to make sure the content is legitimate.


InVid Verification Plugin
The InVid Verification Plugin extracts thumbnails, frames, metadata and other information to help debunk fake news and verify images and videos.


Mimir
Mimir is an easy-to-use tool for video content creators which automates metadata logging using integrated AI services and at the same time archives your media to the cloud and make your archives searchable and therefore more valuable.


Botometer
The Botometer estimates the likelihood of whether or not Twitter accounts and their followers are robots.


Montage
Montage enables teams to work together to analyze and tag YouTube videos.


Browser Plugin
Conveniently fact check the news and automatically identify fact-check worthy claims.


Structure your story or data

OpenRefine
Useful tool for working with messy data: cleaning it; transforming it from one format into another; and extending it with web services and external data. OpenRefine keeps your data private on your own computer until you want to share or collaborate.

VIS
Visualisation tools for mapping and visualizing investigative data.


Zotero
This desktop information management tool allows you to collect, organize, cite and share data and research.

Evernote
Useful tool for organizing and sharing notes.


Reporting & Multimedia Publishing

Viz Story
An easy to use tool for digital media companies by helping to quickly and easily create captivating content with amazing graphics, and publishing out simultaneously across multiple platforms, in different brands and aspect ratios- all without specialist training.


Vimond IO
Vimond IO is a cloud-based collaborative storytelling tool, specially made to meet the new demands of post video production. IO can be accessed from anywhere directly in a web browser giving broadcasters, sports, and media organizations the freedom to edit remote and publish stories while they are still new.

oTranscribe
Online desktop tool for easier transcribing. 


Global Investigative Journalism Network
A collection of reporting tips and tools from the GIJN Resource Center.


Video Telepromter
A mobile application that allows you to use your phone as a telepromter.


Thinglink
Tool for creating interactive visuals.


TimelineJS
Timeline tool that allows you to create visually rich and interactive timelines.


StorymapJS
A tool for creating interactive maps and timelines.


SoundciteJS
Integrate sound in your articles with the inline audio tool Soundcite.


DiNA
Story planning, creation, collaboration and go-live in one unified tool. Plan, share and publish over multiple platforms; all within one beautiful user interface.


Tangle
A JavaScript library for creating interactive and adaptive documents.


Visualization

Everviz
Online platform for simple creation of interactive charts and maps.


Infogram
Online visualization tool for creating infographics and reports.


Blender
Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing and 2D animation pipeline.


Overview
Analyze, visualize, search and review your documents in any format.


Maltego
Gather information from several data sources, combine information and create a map for visually exploring the datas relationships for investigative tasks.


Datawrapper
Enrich your stories with charts, maps and tables.


Mapping

Oligrapher
Oligrapher is a tool for mapping networks of people and organizations.


Miro
Miro is a collaborative online whiteboard platform which you can use for meetings, workshops, ideation, brainstorming, research, agile workflows, planning, mapping and diagramming for remote and distributed teams.


Klaxon
Klaxon is a tool that allows you to keep track of websites and online files for newsworthy changes made to them.


Newslit
Helps you monitor the web for trending news in specific industries and topics.


Spoonbill
Monitor profile changes of the people you follow on Twitter and other social media platforms. It records changes to bios, websites, locations and names.


Education and training

IJ - Institutt for Journalistikk
Stiftelsen Institutt for Journalistikk (IJ) er norske mediers eget kurs og kompetansesenter, der formålet er å bidra til å heve kvaliteten på norsk journalistikk, gjennom kurs og annen kompetanseutvikling. Kurstilbudet skal avspeile utviklingen av journalistikken og gi nytteverdi til mediene.


Nordic Journalist Centre
Nordic Journalist Centre (NJC) is a non-profit organisation founded in 1957. The goal is to strengthen the development of Nordic media and journalism by organizing mid-career training and courses for journalists from all Nordic countries, based on common cultural values and the ‘Nordic media Model’. Furthermore, NJC contributes to networking activities among journalists and editors in the Nordic Region.


European Journalism Centre
European Journalism Centre is an international non-profit, headquartered in The Netherlands, that connects journalists with new ideas, skills and people. Since 1992 they have been building a sustainable, ethical and innovative future for journalism through grants, events, training and media development. 


Poynter
From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their careers.


The Center for Investigative Journalism
The CIJ is an experimental laboratory that teaches reporters new tools alongside the traditional craft of investigative journalism. We incubate promising new investigative projects and open out investigative journalism into fertile new territory.


Columbia Journalism School, Tow Center for Digital Journalism 
Operating as an institute within Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, the center provides journalists with the skills and knowledge to lead the future of digital journalism and serves as a research and development center for the profession as a whole. 


Class central
Study free online Investigative journalism courses and MOOCs from top universities and colleges.


Reuters Institute of Journalism
The Institute hosts journalists from all over the world, connects them with professional peers and leading academics from a wide range of different fields, and facilitates the exchange of ideas by taking part in public debates, by hosting conversations, and by publishing new and interesting work.


N-Ost
Border Crossing Journalism. As a transnational network existing during times of increasing polarization, and as media outlets slowly drift apart from one another, the N-Ost Network forge new paths in foreign reporting.


Flowingdata
Flowingdata are offering self-guided courses in data visualization. From beginner to advanced, you will learn how to visualize data and the design process from data file through finished graphics. 


Other

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that holds power to account, and aims to inform the public about the realities of power in today's world. The Bureau is particularly concerned with the undermining of democratic processes and failures to accord with fair, legal and transparent practices.


Nieman Journalism Lab
The Nieman Journalism Lab is an attempt to help journalism figure out its future in an Internet age. Nieman aims to help reporters and editors adjust to their online labors; to help traditional news organizations find a way to survive; to help the new crop of startups that will complement — or supplant — them. 


Online Journalism Blog
The Online Journalism Blog publishes comment, analysis and links covering online journalism and online news, data journalism, citizen journalism, blogging, vlogging, photoblogging, podcasts, vodcasts, interactive storytelling, publishing, Computer Assisted Reporting, User Generated Content, searching and all things internet.