I’d love to work with you on a talk or workshop. Email me.
I deliver a range of talks and workshops about fake news, our chaotic media environment, and digital investigative and OSINT techniques.
My talks combine examples from my reporting, illuminating research and case studies from elsewhere, and roughly a decade of experience and knowledge about the topic. I love engaging with audiences of all types, and speak regularly to journalists, executives, marketing and communications professionals, students, educators, librarians, and others.
My hands on workshops range from one hour to multiple days and cover a range of digital investigative and OSINT techniques. I also provide basic workshops intended for general audiences and students.
I tailor my presentations and workshops to the audience and always offer concrete advice and steps they can apply in their own work and life.
Contact me to learn more.
Fake News, Real Consequences
This is a talk I've been doing for close to a decade. I typically do it at lengths ranging from 30 to 45 mins (but can adapt as needed). This is a look into the world of online mis/disinformation: who the actors are, the types of misinformation people encounter, what I've learned from investigating it for several years — and what every citizen needs to know about how to navigate this world. I don't read text from slides; I do mini case studies, share anecdotes from my reporting, and back it up with data.
The Golden Age of Media Manipulation
Every digital product or service can be gamed or exploited, and this is especially true of today’s digital services. Whether it’s Russian trolls trying to create division in a democracy, marketers scheming to get the best Amazon reviews for their product, or criminals using a self-publishing platform to launder money, our media environment is more open to manipulation than ever before. This talk exposes the secrets of how it’s being done online. It works well with any audience, but in particular I can explain for marketers, executives, technologists etc. what this means for the work they do and how they need to adapt and protect their business and themselves.
Investigating The Internet
This is a talk I've given primarily for audiences of journalists or people interested in journalism and open source investigations. It's a look at how I and others are investigating ad fraud, misinformation, censorship, and major platforms like Facebook.
Workshop: Investigating Websites & Ads
This is a roughly one hour workshop I gave at the International Journalism. It offered a quick overview of the tools and techniques used to investigate a website, and to determine how it makes money from digital ads.
OSINT and Digital Investigations Workshops
I offer in-person and virtual workshops that cover a range of digital investigative and OSINT tools and techniques, including:
Search, monitoring and archiving to uncover and capture relevant content
Social media account and platform research strategies to analyze profiles, channels, pages and more
Digital backgrounding of people and companies to capture their digital footprint and uncover hidden information
Investigating and verifying images and video to determine accuracy, origins and other details
Analyzing websites to determine ownership and uncover hidden connections
Investigating digital ads to follow the money, track political and social communications, and reveal connections
Using network analysis and digital attribution techniques to connect accounts, websites and other assets together, and to reveal the people and entities behind online activity
Using AI to assist with research, analysis and reporting
New and updated tools for digital investigations
Selected Groups And Events I've Spoken To
World 50
Columbia Journalism School
The University of Chicago Institute of Politics
Wellesley College
Toronto Metropolitan University
Online News Association
Global Editors Network
AAA of North America
True North
The Communications Network
Manitoba Libraries Conference
International Journalism Festival
RightsCon
Knight Media Forum
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
C2
Selected Organizations I've Delivered Workshops For
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Global Investigative Journalism Network
International Fact Checking Network
Taiwan Fact Check
Jagran New Media
Canadian Broadcast Corporation
Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas
Indiegraf
Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism
I’d love to work with you on a talk or workshop. Email me.