Despite rampant misinformation and fake news, digital media plays an increasingly more critical role in journalistic and legal investigations. For the past ten years, citizen investigators, independent research agencies, and newsrooms have developed innovative methodologies to repurpose digital media with multiple goals: settling ground truths, debunking misinformation campaigns, providing proof of environmental crimes, and even shedding light on cases of suspected human rights violations.

This course aims to provide the students with the essential practical tools needed to analyze and conduct digital investigations to support journalistic or legal research. Students will be acquainted with the basic requirements digital media objects need to comply with to be used within methodologically sound and ethical investigative projects and to be admitted as evidence in legal processes. Furthermore, students will acquire the basic skills necessary to conduct a full-fledged investigation, including gathering, processing, archiving, documenting, and analyzing digital media objects. The course will focus on providing the participants with the skills to identify data sources to fuel research, locate the tools to process them, and identify strategies to gain additional skills.

The course is structured around three abilities: planning digital investigations, conducting digital investigations and reporting digital investigations.

Block 1: Planning digital investigations.

Block 2: Conducting digital investigations

Block 3: Reporting digital investigations

Timetable

All lectures will take place on-campus and we assume you can be physically present during the scheduled hours. You can find the timetable on Datanose.

Registration

Registration is possible for second or higher year students participating in an Honours programme. The registration for the Honours courses will start on December 1, 10 am -  December 5, 11 pm, You can register through the online registration form that will appear on Honoursmodules IIS. (registration is NOT through SIS or GLASS).

Please note: There is no guarantee no guarantee for placement if you register after 5 December, so make sure you register on time. You will hear which course(s) you are registered for before 20 december. For questions about registration, please contact us at Honours-iis@uva.nl.

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