“Open source” in the sense this article uses is not really the same as “open source software” which is what this forum is about. Open source journalism does not refer to copyright license terms.
Yea I’m also not sure what a better community for this would be. Open source journalism shares some of the principles (ex. accessible, open collaboration, verifiable), but yes it’s not open source software. They often use closed source tools in the investigations.
I was going off of this, since it’s definitely against the rules of some other communities that are specific to software:
Posts must be relevant to the open source ideology
This is the best summary I could come up with:
An independent researcher, Jennefer formed part of the massive, grassroots response to the invasion that saw individuals from all walks of life — from seasoned digital investigators to newcomers to the field — begin the work of documenting every aspect of the war through digital open sources.During those early months of the war, Jennefer worked on a project to build a database with the personal details of the Russian soldiers taking part in the invasion.
The collection, analysis, and preservation of digital evidence of violations during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been a focus of a range of open source researchers like Jennefer.
As Bellingcat’s Hannah Bagdasar has written, investigating material about sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) brings an entire range of ethical quandaries with it.
These efforts are exemplified by initiatives like the University of California’s Berkeley Protocol on Human Rights Investigation and by the US-based Stanley Centre for Peace and Security’s “The Gray Spectrum: Ethical Decision Making with Geospatial and Open Source Analysis.”
As Scientific American magazine recently wrote, simply reporting every finding of an investigation comes with significant risks; the fact that content has circulated on social media does not absolve open source researchers of the need to think critically of the costs of amplifying it or of promoting an incorrect interpretation of what it shows.This is why values like transparency and humility are a starting point for any ethical consideration.
Rather, we want to share the work of other organisations whose insights have helped us develop our own best practice and to invite the wider open source community to consider ethical decision-making in their research and continue the conversation.
The original article contains 1,572 words, the summary contains 273 words. Saved 83%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
I’ll have to look into this more, but I find this a bit questionable because they put out articles against the US / US interests too. It’s just recently some of the focus has been on the Ukraine war.
The point behind what Bellingcat does is that the information and research process is verifiable and reproducible, rather than being about blind trust in a news org. So you don’t have to trust what they’re saying is true, you can go and check it yourself.
Even if that weren’t the case and it was about trust, the sites you just linked have questionable history:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grayzone
The website, initially founded as The Grayzone Project,[24] was affiliated with AlterNet before becoming independent in early 2018.[4] It is known for its critical coverage of the US and its foreign policy,[1] misleading reporting,[25] and sympathetic coverage of authoritarian regimes.[4][21][26][27] The Grayzone has downplayed or denied the Chinese government’s human rights abuses against Uyghurs,[31] published conspiracy theories about Venezuela, Xinjiang, Syria, and other regions,[32][33] and published pro-Russian propaganda during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[30]
Grayzone writers such as Blumenthal and Aaron Maté acted as briefers on behalf of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations at UN meetings organised by Russia.[34][35][36][37]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MintPress_News
MintPress News (MPN) is an American far-left[1] news website founded and edited by Mnar Adley (née Muhawesh) which was launched in January 2012[2] and also publishes the MintCast podcast. It covers political, economic, foreign affairs and environmental issues. Editorially, MintPress News supports Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and the governments of Russia, Iran, and Syria.[3][4] It opposes the governments of Israel and Saudi Arabia,[5] and reports geopolitical events from an anti-Western perspective.[6] In one contentious article, MintPress News falsely asserted that the Ghouta chemical attack in Syria was perpetrated by rebel groups rather than by the Syrian government.[4]
Described as a conspiratorial website,[7][8] MintPress News publishes disinformation and antisemitic conspiracy theories, according to researchers at Rutgers University and others.[9][10] MintPress News was a major media domain that spread disinformation about the White Helmets, a Syrian volunteer organization.[11] The site has been accused of regularly publishing pro-Russian propaganda.[10]
