using the web as an investigative reporting tool
DESCRIPTION
Mark Horvit gives examples of how to use the Internet and online records effectively as a reporter to do investigative reporting.TRANSCRIPT
Strategy Know what you’re after
Know what is available
Know when enough is enough
Be a smarter searcher
Be skeptical – treat each online source just as you would any other
Advanced search
Search for phrases
Use Boolean logic
By domain or site
By file type
Words in URL
• No one knows for sure, but estimates are that Google searches far less than half of what’s available on the Web – maybe a small fraction.
• Each search engine has its own strengths and weaknesses.
• Total shared results of any two search engines: 8.9 percent.
• Any three search engines: 2.2 percent
Source: 2007 study by Dogpile, Penn State and Queensland University of Technology
• Alltheweb.com (advanced search options)
• Ask.com (Subject-Specific Popularity™)
• Clusty.com (clustered results)
• Yahoo! (directory)
• Jux2 (Multiple search site results returned)
• Bing
• Twingine (side-by-side results)
Wikipedia (for links, sources only)
Census (esp. Data Finders feature)
Public records portals
• BRB Publications
• Portico
NICAR Net tour
Reporter’s Desktop by Duff Wilson
FedStats - Portal to government statistics. FirstGov - Portal to federal and local
governments.
Federal spending USASpending – search and download federal
contracts, grants and more.
The Visible Web (“Surface Web”) is made up
of the typical results in search engines.
The Invisible Web (“Deep Web”) includes
searchable databases / dynamic content.
Some estimate the Invisible Web is 550 times
bigger than the Visible Web.
Google says more than 1,000 federal
government sites can’t be “crawled.”
Pipl
123people
SocialMention
Whostalkin
Samepoint
Icerocket
PeekYou
Search engine cache (Google, Bing)
Wayback Machine
CyberCemetery – sites of defunct government
agencies and commissions
Yahoo Site Explorer
Domain searches reveal all.
Domain Tools http://www.domaintools.com
Allwhois http://www.allwhois.com
Quarkbase
Find the location:
Find IP: “Show original” or “View source” of the
email.
Lookup IP: Whois
Reverse email searches:
People searches:
Pipl, spokeo
Check usernames at Knowem
Salaries, travel: www.legistorm.com
Cash and votes: www.maplight.org
Federal: www.opensecrets.org
From the source: www.fec.gov
990s –What all 501(c)3 organizations that
have more than $25,000 in annual revenue
must file with the IRS.
Churches are exempt.
IRE database library