This was something completely different for me. This was a brilliantly written book about the group that look into real life crimes and the investigation into them - using open source intelligence. I had never heard of this before and really learnt a lot.

This was very detailed and not an easy read. If you want to learn more about this, this is a great book to read.

This was an eye opening. read

I was given an advance copy by netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review which I have done.

I didn’t know about Bellingcat before reading this book but I do now

We Are Bellingcat details how the Open-Source investigative unit grew through its involvement in some very high profile worldwide incidents. A very interesting read

Interesting, illuminating and informative. In the era of fake news how independent people have joined together to find out the truth. Using media platforms, some readily available to the general public the search to unearth atrocities.
This should be widely publicised and taught how to verify the information portrayed in the main stream media.
Hard reading at times as the truth is uncovered but compelling in what we as are fed as the truth from governments and those we are predisposed to trust.

When the Russian Novichok poisonings happened in Salisbury, UK, Higgins was just a normal office worker with an ‘unsatisfying job’ and an interest in the news and computing. This book is the story of how Higgins went from leading an ordinary life to becoming an obsessive online sleuth of world events. His obsession led to the formation of Bellingcat an organisation that has been consulted on by NGOs, Government intelligent agencies, and journalists to help solve crimes, such as the downing of flight MH17.

The book tries to show how we, as everyday internet users, with a little skill and a lot of time can also use freely available online information to create the connections that reveal the true timelines and culprits behind a number of world events and war crimes.

As a librarian I’m passionate about digital and media literacy. In a world where information is so freely available, how do you know what is true and what is a lie? Higgins takes you back to the main principle of seeking out the primary data and double checking everything.

Higgins makes much of the fact that Bellingcat always makes it clear where their information has come from and citing all sources. Good practice for all of us, but later in the book he does say how they paid a Russian to gain access to hidden records. Those records are the catalyst for the rest of that particular search and they would not have been able to solve that particular crime without those sources. So though Bellingcat may have started as an open source platform of truth, but can it really still claim those credentials if they are paying someone for access to secure documents?

Throughout the book I kept on wondering what really drove Higgins to devote so much of his time to this work. I never felt that this was satisfactorily dealt with, and I say this as someone who knows the buzz of finding something that everyone else has struggled to locate. There is a certain satisfaction in being able to pull all the pieces together and follow a trail to the pot of information gold but I’m not sure I could devote hours of my life to watching video footage of war crimes as something that started as a hobby. I also kept on asking myself why is this organisation needed, why aren’t intelligence agencies around the world doing this work, why aren’t news organisations doing it? It’s interesting that a book with an upside down question mark on the cover left me with so many questions of my own.

I’d really recommend this book to anyone interested in journalism, politics, world affairs and media, digital or information literacies. Higgins raises some very important issues on how we get our information, how we fight against ‘fake news’ and how important it is for all of us that each generation has those skills.

I hadn't heard of Bellingcat before I saw this book was available on NetGalley but was intrigued by the premise. This really is a fascinating book and shows how much difference an average person can achieve with the internet behind them. The book is written in a friendly, chatty style - very approachable and very readable. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone who has any interest in the current news agenda and how the truth is available despite the myriad untrue stories found all over the internet.

Are Bellingcat – Eliot Higgins

 

I was not overly aware of Bellingcat when I saw this book, so I felt like I was going in blind, but the detail in which Higgins writes about how Bellingcat was formed, its purpose, and its methods was intricate and compelling.

 

Online sleuthing and citizen journalism is a phenomenal resource and this book shows the importance of each of these things.

 

This book is scary in the sense that it reads like a crime/thriller, but its all true!  The spread of fake news isn’t only from a certain orange soon to be former president, but can come from the most respected news outlets, but Bellingcat and the role of online sleuths is to spread correct information, not to scare, not to intimidate or to get their point across.  Its to discover the facts for themselves, for the good of others and its amazing to think that anyone can do it.  Even you and I.

 

This is a read that is not quick, its heavy going with information and took me a while to get into at first as I felt it was overloaded with information at the start, but that is what this book is about, information, accuracy and discovering the truth.

 

Thank you to Net Galley, Eliot Higgins and Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My brother always used to share super dubious news articles on Facebook. I always used to say do you actually know that that’s true? Have you even read the article? 9/10 times he hadn’t and yes it was nonsense or a news story reused from years before.
I’m sure we’ve all seen the footage this week from the US. And maybe you’ve seen the video of the woman rubbing her eyes with a towel in which you can just about see an onion? Half of the news stories id seen were saying she was doing it to make it look like she’d been attacked. However was she actually doing it because onions can take away the side effects from tear gas because she was somewhere doing something she shouldn’t have? Either way how do we know what to believe when we see things posted online. We are Bellingcat is a brilliant example of an organisation trying to prove whether the news, videos and articles we read are true and if they aren’t prove the facts, solely through open-source investigations. This book explores news stories such as the downing of the MH17 plane over Ukraine, the Salisbury novichok poisonings, the Syrian war, the New Zealand mosque terrorist attack which was broadcast live on Facebook and whether what we are reading online about them are facts, or someone’s spin on them maybe having a hidden agenda. If you want to dig deeper into the news stories you read I implore you to read this. I also ask you to think about the news article you’re reading and sharing and question if there’s a chance you’re spreading fake news.

This was an absolutely fascinating book covering a subject that is unknown to most people, particularly the older generation. The potent mixture of the evovement of the use of the internet and recent tragedies and war crimes made for a very interesting read.
The author managed to make this book eminently readable despite the subject matter being technically complex. A very well-written book.
As an aside, the progress made by Bellingcat is quite astounding in such a short time and I am comforted that there is an organisation out there trying to look after our interests.
This is a must read for anyone that keeps up to date with current affairs. After reading this book one will never take any news or more particularly social media article as gospel.

Not my usual read but it sounded really interesting and I was not disappointed.
I hadn't heard of Bellingcat, it was quite a fascinating and insightful read.
I had heard of some things described by the book - the mobile phone hacking scandal, the poisoning of the Russians in Salisbury.
They go into detail about how they gather evidence and facts that either prove or disprove what is being reported in the news. The amount of work they put in in is massive, so much time searching. Open source intelligence is how they do it. Its made easier these days due Internet and social media.
Such an insightful read.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What an amazing book this is, fully deserving of its 5 Stars. I started reading knowing an iota about Bellingcat and its reputation and my admiration grew as I turned the pages. Could not quite manage the whole book in one sitting as even I sleep sometime - although it seems that they do not.

This is a book that anyone who has any feeling for the truth should read. How these folk do their very best to stop fake-truth and identify fake-news thus stopping all sorts of injustice is truly amazing. We need to acknowledge what the group have achieved and will,hopefully, continue to achieve.

This is a hugely well-researched and detailed account by British journalist, Eliot Higgins, who founded Bellingcat in July 2014. I’d never heard of Bellingcat but thought this sounded like an interesting read and a subject I should learn more about.

Bellingcat is a website that is run as a place where independent investigative journalists and any interested individual can work collaboratively to publish facts about world news. They have no political leanings and use open-source intelligence to unearth the truth about events which are often being misreported on purpose by governments, groups or individuals. It evolved from a blog, under the name of Brown Moses, that Elliot Higgins, wrote to publish his detailed findings on the Syrian Civil War. Bellingcat;s first big case was reporting the truth about flight MH17 which was shot down while flying over eastern Ukraine.

There is a huge amount of detail in the book about the methods and techniques used by people world over used to contribute to discover to the truth about many terrorist and war incidents, the Skripal poisoning in Salisbury and the Christchurch mosque massacre among others. The dedication, that could be described as obsession, of those who give their spare times to search through thousands and thousands of images and videos is quite astounding. They will spend days and weeks searching Google Earth to geolocate the exact location of an incident in order to corroborate the truth. Bellingcat basically represents the ultimate positive use for having many eyes – tens of thousands potentially – to ensure that the truth and facts prevail over spin and lies.


With thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Utterly fascinating book - inspiring, intriguing and eye-opening. I've fancied myself an amateur online researcher but this is a whole other level of expertise. Rather than the digital world being a poor facsimile of the real thing, it is now central to the way in which we understand and operate in the so-called real world.

What an eyeopener! I had heard of Bellingcat but didn't know anything about it. A fascinating read. Informative from the start and written perfectly.

Its amazing what can be found out and how! Read it!

Thank you for providing me with a review copy of this book. Enjoyed reading, interesting points - would recommend....

This book works on two levels, both as an explanation of how they’ve developed as a citizen journalist organisation and how they played a key part in the investigations for which they are best know.n. Really interesting look at their growth and methods, and the part citizen journalists / investigators can play.

A brilliantly written story looking into open source intelligence (OSINT) and how it is used in real life. A technique I love and use a lot for work and to satisfy my personal curiosities..It is so often that you find something on the subject of your interest, but it ends up being an absolute disaster. This is an exception! It is very well written, evolves around some very interesting cases and hopefully will be an eye opener to many!
It also shows how enthusiasm and some self-education can take this far. The book is amazing on so many levels, it's hard for me to be concise.
But if you want to learn anything about disinformation, OSINT and how it works or just a fan of detective stories - read this! You won't regret it!
I am a number one fan of Eliot Higgins for sure now!

This book tells the story of Bellingcat; an independent, international collective using open-source and social media data to undertake online investigations into some of the world’s most pressing stories.

I have been aware of Bellingcat for some time, thanks to The Browser website which has recommended their published articles. The book provides a rich history and timeline of Bellingcat’s evolution from a small scale blog to the respected and influential organisation is has become today.

It is fascinating the investigative journalism Bellincat have done, largely with publicly available online data; along with hard work, diligence and the patience of staff and volunteers. The book describes how Bellingcat investigates news events by identifying people, locating places, dates and even the time of day from publicly available online data ( photos & videos on Social Media, satellite imagery, online databases, specially developed software). These events may be military, political or criminal in nature, well known, unknown or misreported by the worlds media.

Examples are given of phone hacking, military actions, terrorism, government actions and war crimes. The online data investigated is often coming from active participants or bystanders in these events. Bellingcat’s innovative investigative methods often provide more accurate, more reliable reporting than the major news organisations or official government investigations.

The book describes Bellingcat’s online methods, internal and sometimes external collaboration with news organisations, like-minded non-government organisations and sometimes governments or legal authorities. Examples are given that expose and sometimes bring to justice perpetrators and enablers of local, national and international crimes. Truth and justice are recurring themes in Belligcat’s work; something the book makes clear they strive to retain as their organisation and influence grows.

The book also delves into the problems of the growing influence of Counter-Factual information often disseminated via Social Media. Debunking incorrect stories is as much a part of their work as providing their own factual, evidence-based accounts.

Recurring themes of integrity, ethics, verified evidence, truth and justice are constant throughout the book. The books closing chapters discuss the future direction of their work, including how Artificial Intelligence, Bellingcat and like-minded organisations or individuals (perhaps with training and online resources) can address the ongoing problems of factual media and reporting.

Bellingcat is providing an outstanding service in these difficult times when it is sometimes difficult to trust the many sources of information we are exposed to in our daily lives. The Bellingcat organisation, their brave staff and collaborators deserve our thanks. An important book, deserving a wide audience. This book is a great read for anyone interested in the media, truthful accounting of current events and an insight into the future.

A compelling story of the emergence and hugely impressive achievements of open-source investigation as a new form of journalism / activism / human rights work, and of Bellingcat in particular.

Coming to this with only a peripheral awareness of Bellingcat, this book was ideally-pitched, neither assuming too much familiarity with the subject matter nor slowing down the story with too much detail. The details of the examples of the author and his colleagues' work were at times hard to follow, as was the author's practice of jumping around from case to case, but the narrative was consistently fascinating.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in truth and justice.

This is a fantastic story revealing the existence of an online organisation that is transforming the gathering of verifiable information and replacing old fashioned on-site journalism. Eliot Higgins has gone from being a computer nerd who spent his spare time pursuing international crimes to a highly respected international business man who resolves international problems ahead of government agencies and, because of Bellingcat’s independence, with greater clout. Who identified the Salisbury poisoners? Bellingcat. Add to that the company’s contribution to getting the facts about Syria, Libya, the Yemen and other centres of atrocities, the company’s importance is immeasurable. Using google maps and other online tools, this company can be certain about what is happening in photographs and exactly where it is taking place. If this can be done at a distance, the limited experience of onsite journalists is marginalised as they see only what’s around them and cannot verify the perpetrators. As the book states, ‘Bellingcat is something that has never been before, an internal agency for the people’. The book gives convincing detail about its work. It is an amazing read!

An interesting book. It explains how Bellingcat came into being and gives an overview of how - and why - it took off. If you take it all at face value then they are definitely a force for good.

I did some research using the internet and failed to find confirmation. Some sites - mainly ones that are suspect themselves - think they are part of MI5 or CIA. When I asked a friend what he thought - he follows some strange sites himself - he said to look into their funding, as it's often there that things show up. Nothing much showed up.

For myself, I think they're okay. Oh and I enjoyed the book too.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.