"At its core, journalism is about seeking the truth and verifying information. But in a new world filled with disinformation, how do journalists ensure the videos and photos we see are accurate?"

Open Source student journalists, Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting, Stony Brook University

Open source journalism is increasingly important in a world where it is essential to be able to verify the news we consume. Often known as OSINT (Open Source Intelligence), its power to produce transparent, trustworthy and openly verifiable information has made it a vital component of journalism today.

Reporters frequently find themselves in a race to establish the truth against the torrent of disinformation spreading online. Open source journalism uses publicly accessible investigative and visual verification tools to hold governments to account, investigate human rights abuses, and shine a light on dark corners of society where the facts are hard to establish.

Many media organizations now have specialist visual and forensic investigative teams devoted to this task. Here at Stony Brook University, our group of student journalists has collected useful resources and compiled them into this beginner-friendly toolkit to get you started in the field. For a list of contributors, please see Chapter 8.

We are grateful to some of the world's leading open source journalists for sharing their expertise with us. Rhona Tarrant, Executive Editor of CBS News Confirmed, inspired our efforts to produce this guide with her 2025 Distinguished Marie Colvin Lecture on "The New Battlefield: Open Source Investigations into Conflict and Disinformation."

Tarrant emphasized that the role of open source journalism was to enhance rather than replace traditional reporting skills, enabling audiences to receive the most accurate and up-to-date information.

"This does not replace journalists on the ground. It's a new layer of reporting that can supplement and help that work."

Rhona Tarrant, executive editor, CBS News Confirmed

Building trust with audiences is an important goal of open source journalism. Digital verification can establish who is posting social media content, where and when the content originates from, and whether images or videos have been photoshopped or digitally altered with AI. Transparency is a key part of the investigative process.

"We're not just telling you what we know, we are showing you how we know what we know," Tarrant said.

While Tarrant acknowledged that debunking false claims risked supplying them with the "oxygen of amplification," she emphasized that a vital tenet of open source journalism was "sunlight" provides the best disinfectant. We hope you agree.