My knowledge on open-source investigation did not begin with the recent Marshall McLuhan forum at Silliman with Rappler lead editorial researcher Jodesz Gavilan. During my internship, I learned to do open-source research whenever pitching stories or working on projects.
In a time when governments and people in authority are slow to give out information, while technology has made the news cycle turnover much faster, open-source investigation has become more of a need than an optional enrichment. While sit-down interviews have their time and place—and should be done whenever opportunities allow—they have become impractical for day-to-day projects, and even data-driven reports that seek to hold power to account.
During my internship at Rappler, we were always encouraged to look for ways to avoid interviews. At that time, the advice seemed to go against everything I had been taught as a mass communication student.
I realized, however, that so much information was, in fact, readily available on the internet—just in corners we didn’t know to look into.
Government websites are a treasure trove of files, if one can find the right tabs. Social media also have rare yet reliable information that cannot be found anywhere else, if one only knew how to sift through all the junk.
One reporter’s questions can be answered from public statements released by the source, or from video interviews that may have been done by other journalists, with the proper attribution of sources. All of these are open-source information that can be used for a vast majority of stories in one way or another.
Following my internship, I became a ‘fact check’ contributor at Rappler, and am also currently doing part-time data encoding work for an election-related project for the digital media company. In both of these positions, open-source investigations are key in getting information about government agencies and local officials, without waiting for days to weeks for a response.
For example, we use the Certificates of Candidacy published on the Commission on Elections website to look at trends, and collate information that can be used for election-related stories. These COCs have key information about the candidates who want to get elected, like their profession, full name, name of spouse, and residence that can tell a lot about the state of our politicians.
As someone who has grown to love research work in journalism, and who now wants to work in the industry soon, the Marshall McLuhan forum only served to reinforce my interest in the field. Relearning the concepts in a much more in-depth manner, and in a new context has allowed me to realize how much more I could be doing with this field.
Even if I do not get into this field anytime soon, however, I am certain that the insights I got from this talk by the Marshall Mcluhan Fellow will guide me in my professional life in general.
In any industry and job role, knowing where to get information, and how to evaluate it will always be important. Reports will always need the right concepts and statistics, the most updated of which can be found on the internet.
Since I have a specific interest in new and digital media even outside the journalism industry, open- source investigations are key in knowing how to analyze the digital realm that is too vast and too diverse to study just by asking people one by one.
As a person stepping into the professional world where disinformation is only on the rise, using open-source investigations to verify information is essential in leading a safe, wise, and informed life.
Research is no longer a luxury reserved for the academic—it is a necessary part of a journalist’s life, and the toolkit of any digital native like me. Not only is it practical and time-efficient to know how to conduct open- source investigations properly, it is becoming increasingly essential in a world where authorities are more tight-lipped with information, while everything around us becomes more saturated with both good and bad data.
Natania Shay Solon Du
SU College of Mass Communication
