With the ever speeding pace of journalism and quick turnaround articles, the need for good investigative journalism is more important than ever. Join Ezra Eeman from Journalism Tools for a tour of the best tools to find and brainstorm your ideas, monitor stories, follow the people and paper trail, zoom in on locations, shield your investigation, get more out of your data and produce highly visual stories in the field. Journalism Tools is a popular twitter feed and web platform exploring the newest tools and resources for the next generation of journalists.

1. Journalism Tools
For Investigative Journalists
Perugia 2017

2. Head of EBU Digital
Head of VRT Start-Up & Open VRT
Tools & Digital Strategy @Journalism2ls
Investigative Journalist & Editor in Chief @VTM
Fulbright Journalism Award Researcher @CUNY,
New York
Work/Life/Pleasure: Brussels - Tokyo - New York.
About Me
Ezra Eeman, Founder @Journalism2ls

3. idea research report publication feedback
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4. Journalism Tools.
A selection of tools and
insights for a new
generation of
journalists.

5. Rules for Tools

6. Pick
Keep it simple. Chose tools that suit your workflow.
Stick
Be consequent.
Dig
Get to know your tools. Learn the shortcuts. RTFM.
c
z
e

7. The 80/20 Rule
; Focus on what works for you. Make a
selection of 10 tools to do 80% of the work.
Be open for new things. Dare to experiment
in 20% of your work.
experiments daily
20%
80%

8. Workflow Design

9. selectioncriteriahowdoesit…
Storytooling Canvas
Identify the elements of your story. Which one
do you want to highlight or add with a tool?
Time, place, persons, sounds, images,
relationships, data,...
Story Elements? Time? Skill? Platform? Interaction? Price?
How much time do you have to build
something? 10 minutes or 10 months?
Do you have the skill to work with the tool? Is
it easy to learn? If not do you know anyone
who can work with it?
Check the price. Some tools are open source
and free. Others work with subscriptions,
clicks or have to be bought.
journalismtools
Determine the level of interaction you want. Do you
push, pull, allow conversation, ask for interaction.
Is it live or not? Single- or multi-user?
Consider the platform and device your readers
will use to access the story: web, mobile,
touch, browser version, OS,…
Attract attention? Raise interest? Add Value? Increase Engagement?
How does the tool surprise, raise questions,
triggers curiosity or catch the eye of your
audience?
Does the tool allow you to tell your story in a
simple, credible & concrete way? Does it add
something unexpected? Does it reveal why
your audience should care?
Does the tool add a new dimension to the story,
make it easier to understand or navigate, more
visual or add value in any other way?
Does the tool engage the reader to stay longer
on the page, dig deeper and share the story?

10. Finding a story...

12. Set Target First Ideas Associate Select Deepen Result

13. 1. Google Docs
Write and think together.

14. 2. Dropbox Paper
Write and think together.

15. 3. Workflowy
Easy expandable notes that you can
share with your colleagues.

17. 4. Semaphor
Encrypted group chat and file sharing

18. 5. XMind
Think visual.
Use a brainstorming app.

20. 6. Go Moodboard
Simple online moodboards.

21. Track a story...

22. Monitor News
8. Nuzzel
News shared by your friends and
connections
7. Feedly
One of the best feedreaders
around.
9. Tweetdeck
Follow and track news on Twitter

23. 10. Mention
Real time keyword tracking.
11. Google Alerts
Get updates about a search term.
12. Versionista
Track changes on a website.
Alerts

25. 13. IFTTT
Automate actions between two apps.

27. 14. Wikiwash
Track changes on Wikipedia.

28. Search

29. Private Browsing
Private Browsing protects your private
information and blocks some websites
from tracking your search behavior.
Your browser won’t store the pages
you visit, your search history, or your
AutoFill information.

30. 15. Startpage
A privacy browser that doesn’t reveal
your IP address, doesn’t allow
tracking ID cookies, doesn’t store your
search history,…
Alternative: https://duckduckgo.com/

31. 16. Tor
The Tor browser protects you by
bouncing your communications
around a distributed network of relays
run by volunteers all around the
world.

32. (Re)search: People

33. 15. 360 Social Me
Find all relevant personal and social
information from somebody.

35. 16. Graph Tips
Experimental Deep Facebook Research

37. 17. Mention Map
Discover connections between twitter
users and hashtags.
Recently added: retweet map
Displays connection between central
user and retweets.
New functionalities: save maps, filter
users and hashtags, see trending
users or tags,…

39. 18. Follower Wonk
Deep Twitter Search

42. 19. Bond
Set clear reminders to keep up with
your contacts.

43. 20. Crystal
You are what you write. Analyse your
contacts writings.

46. Don’t just look
for the facts…

47. THINK
SEE
SAY
DO
FEEL
HEAR
PAINS GAINS

48. (Re)search: Paper

49. 21. Document Cloud
Platform to analyse and annotate
documents.

50. 22. Overview
Analyse en visualise large documents.

51. 23. Import.io
Scrape information from websites &
documents on the internet

52. 24. Open Corporates
Open database with worldwide
corporate information

53. 25. Little Sis
An open database from influential
business people, politici,… their
functions, companies,…

55. 26. Investigative
Dashboard
Portal for investigative journalists.
Support for research, database with
public documents.

56. (Re)search: Location

57. 27. Banjo Discovery
Social media search & news
monitoring based on location.

58. 28. Newspaper Map
Find and translate online newspapers.

59. 29. Flight Aware
Real-time flight information.

60. 30. Marine Traffic
Real-time information on ships.

61. Verification

62. 31. Truly Media
An online collaborative platform to
find, organise and verify social media
content.

63. 32. Tin Eye
Reverse image Search.

64. 33. Veracity app.
Check pictures on your phone.

65. 34. Youtube Dataviewer
Check the origin of YouTube video’s.

66. 35. Google Maps
Compare video locations
Ex: bellingcat
Look for location pictures on
• Yomapic
• Echosec

67. 36. First Draft
Verification network with tips & tools.

68. Structure your story

69. Who? What? Where?
informationaudiencestorydistribution
Target audience?
What do you want to achieve?
Format/design/tone of voice?
Channel?
When? Why? How?
Storytelling Canvas
journalismtools
Character? Conflict? Connection? Baseline?

70. 37. Visual Investigative
Scenarios
Make a visual and interactive map of
your investigation.

72. 38. Casefile
Specialised software to map networks.
(works together with Maltego)

73. 39. Detective.io
Online platform to structure and share
your investigation together with
colleagues.

74. Privacy and Security

75. Privacy (warning: none of these tools are fail-proof)
40. Hushed
Temporary anonymous phone
numbers.
41. Mailveloppe
Browser extension to encrypt
webmail.
42. Signal
Encrypted messagings and calls.
Alternatives: Chatsecure/Spideroak Kloak

76. Privacy (warning: none of these tools are fail-proof)
43. Mattermost
Open source, privat cloud, slack
alternative.
44. Lookout
Mobile security and theft
protection in one app.
45. Spybot
Comprehensive anti-spy, anti-malware
package.

77. 46. Salama
Security risk assesment for
individuals and organizations +
library of tools and best practices.

78. Need more tools?
Twitter: @Journalism2ls
Medium: https://medium.com/@Journalism2ls
www.journalismtools.io

79. 47. Journalismtools.io
Online tools platform

83. Thank you!
Twitter: @Journalism2ls
Medium: https://medium.com/@Journalism2ls
www.journalismtools.io