Partners against crime: Harnessing the power of technology with budget in mind
Technology firms have the tools to revolutionize investigative journalism, and while some are building higher barriers to access, others are opening their doors. Here’s The Sentry’s advice on how to pivot from old resources and engage new opportunities.
The Golden Age of Social Media OSINT
When The Sentry published “War Crimes Shouldn’t Pay” in 2016, the team took advantage of the free and open world of social media to expose the lavish lifestyle and luxury real estate of top officials responsible for mass atrocities in South Sudan. Back then, it was relatively simple to build an anonymous profile and take advantage of the troves of data published to social media platforms, all without exposing the investigation in a way that might spook the bad guys.
Now years later, revelations about the use of social media to manipulate elections, the increase in bot accounts, and concerns about privacy have changed the ease with which someone can open an account, as well as the amount of data they can access. A temporary, non-attributable phone number no longer works to prove you’re a real person, and it’s been a challenge to balance the desire for access to information with the necessity of protecting an investigation.
In the wake of these challenges, the open-source intelligence (OSINT) community has continuously made valiant efforts to offer free tools for investigators, meaning that there are fewer hoops to jump through in order to securely access valuable intelligence. These tools take advantage of open application programming interface (API), which fewer and fewer social media platforms are making public. Even X, formerly known as Twitter, long one of the last social media companies whose data was free to access, has now created a paywall.
With an open API, you can use free online tools to visualize the trends of how fake news is shared and spread, compare followers to construct social networks and relationships between accounts, and archive account details and history, all with only a few clicks. Without it, not only has it become harder and harder to do social media-based investigations, but it also takes longer, especially as the platforms are making less information available and making it more difficult to protect your anonymity while investigating. This trend has meant that what once was a rich and free data source now is less powerful and more costly, in both time and money.
Finding New Alternatives
The shift away from easy access social media data through open APIs has meant an investigative rethink. Beyond social media, civil society and journalists can benefit from a wide range of technologies and databases. Corporate shareholdings and databases of politicians are essential puzzle pieces in exposing wrongdoing — from the individuals profiting from arms trafficked to a war zone to the politicians winning lucrative government contracts and cashing in without completing the work. The opportunity to use data visualization software can empower an investigator to see the missing link in a network and fill a gap in the story. Satellite imagery can expose changes on the ground over time. And cyber security tools can be the difference between keeping a whistleblower safe and seeing them exposed.
Unfortunately, while these technologies are vital, they are often expensive, and the distance between a nonprofit budget and the market price can be challenging to overcome. Nevertheless, given our experience of how important technology can be to investigative success, The Sentry is frequently emailing technology companies to see if there’s space to work together.
Thankfully, doors are opening. Several organizations have paved the way in establishing partnerships with private companies that offer invaluable tools, resources, expertise, and data — access that journalists can usually only dream about. These partnerships can include data providers giving access to their product for free or at heavily reduced rates, which works especially well when onboarding a single customer is a marginal cost for the firm.
Developing Partnerships
From The Sentry’s experience, here are a few tips to keep in mind when negotiating for partnerships.
It’s always worth asking. You can never exactly predict how a company will respond to your request. If they can’t offer you the product for free, ask if they have a nonprofit rate. Encourage them to start a reduced fee or free non-profit program if they don’t already have one. Sometimes it takes time to come to an agreement, but it’s often worth the wait. Be creative about where you might find savings. Can you use only one login instead of getting multiple profiles? Can you limit access to the full data set and only focus on the data you need for a lower price?
Remember, you bring something to the table too. Companies are often looking for feedback to improve their product and customer experience. We are able to provide creative insights into their technologies, given that our use case may be different than that of a typical client. Additionally, nonprofits bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise that can be leveraged as payment in kind through webinars, joint events, and educational content for the company and its clients. The Sentry’s successful collaboration with Moody’s, Refinitiv, and Castellum.ai are modelled as two-way data, expertise, and information sharing partnerships that improve financial transparency and support the fight against illicit financial flows. We’ve found a new audience in these partnerships and welcomed exposure.
Provide insight into how their product might change the world, and how they’ll be recognized for it. As investigators and journalists, we never want to give away details of an upcoming story or investigation. This is a challenge when the story itself may encourage a private company to partner with you, especially if it will mean their company being cited alongside impressive findings. Practice pitching the impact of your work without giving away the work itself. How can you sell a ticket for joining the journey you’re on without sharing the details? Describe how the product or tool will contribute to the final report, how the company will be acknowledged, and how they’ll be able to share this with their clients and funders. Laying this out ahead of time preemptively answers questions from marketing and legal departments, and your answers may squash any lingering reservations that could prevent a partnership.
If you find an open door, see if you can hold it open for someone else. When possible, The Sentry shares the opportunities we’ve uncovered with partner organizations and civil society groups. Nonprofit pricing and programs are not always well advertised, and this information should be shared widely so that others can take advantage of these programs. Many companies have a specific point person who acts as an account manager for nonprofits and who is familiar with the intricacies of working with a nonprofit, from unique payment plans to security concerns to discount opportunities. When sharing opportunities, make direct introductions to their account manager, if you can.
The Sentry is immensely grateful for the partnerships we’ve formed and discounts we’ve received. Hopefully more companies will follow suit and see that the benefits of close collaboration can be more valuable than the sticker price of a subscription or product license. It all starts with opening the door to a conversation and entering with an open mind.
