1st Edition
Evaluating Digital Sources in Journalism An Introduction to Digital Source Criticism
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Digital Sources: A critical approach
o Digital source criticism in four simple steps
o The epistemic foundation of source criticism
o Source criticism for journalists
o Traditional source criticism: a waste of time
o The necessity of a digital source criticism
o The effectiveness of network reading
o Understanding the Internet’s signals
o Questions for reflection and exercises
Chapter 2: Digital manipulation and disinformation
o Introduction
o Recognise suspicious user accounts
o Motivations for manipulation
o Journalists as targets
o The value of manipulating a journalist
§ Google bombing
§ No follow: maintaining critical distance in the digital domain
o Wikipedia – for journalists
§ Contributing to Wikipedia as a journalist
§ Wikidata
o Internet outrage and social media rows
o Undercover trolls: when the media takes the bait
o A solution in sight
o Unearthing digital networks
o Media manipulation
§ Image and video manipulation
§ Audio manipulation
o Questions for reflection and exercises
Chapter 3: Verifying information
o Introduction
o The layers of journalism
o Figures and statistics in brief
o User-generated content
o The verification process
o Verification and mental health
o Verification resources
o Questions for reflection and exercises
Chapter 4: Journalism, Online Open-Source Investigations and OSINT
o Introduction
o Digging through open digital sources
o From military to civil use
o Complex digital investigative journalism stories
o Sleuthing, or digging on your own
o The process of digital investigative journalism
o Debunking information posted by the President of Brazil
o Creative methods for open-source investigations
o Three cases of investigative reporting in which open sources played a major role
o Dramatically effective methods
o Questions for reflection and exercises
Glossary
Index
Biography
Ståle Grut is a Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oslo’s Department of Media and Communication. He spent close to a decade at the Norwegian public broadcasting's R&D lab, NRKbeta, as a strategic advisor and journalist covering new media. Grut has also served as an advisor at the Tinius Trust, controlling the largest shareholding of Schibsted Media Group, and as a board member of the Norwegian Online News Association.
