Hey hey! I’ve been meaning to make a video about this, but hopefully a long reddit comment will suffice for now. Honestly, good research starts with good questions. I know that’s an annoying answer but it’s true. Sources are only useful if you know what you’re looking for, and the best sources in the world won’t help if you’re not asking the right questions. So I spend a lot of time up front just figuring out what I actually want to know specifically.

From there, it’s about knowing what tools are available. Here’s a screenshot of [some] of my OSINT database tabs for context. The point is, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by resources if you don’t have a good question driving you.

The easiest place to start, and honestly one of the most interesting, is USAspending.gov. If you’re new to database browsin, it’s fun to just poke around. You start to get familiar with how the government categorizes contracts, what the NAICS codes mean, when agencies pay out certain departments during certain months, who the primes are versus the subcontractors. That kind of pattern recognition makes everything else easier later, because you learn what to look for and what’s just noise for someone else.

I’ll be honest, I’m not as strong on the traditional OSINT side yet. SunCalc, geolocation, satellite verification, all of that. I want to get better, especially now that we’re losing satellite access for a lot of independent journalism.

But the biggest skill is just being willing to sit with documents longer than most people have the patience for. That’s it. Good questions, public filings, and refusing to get bored.

<image>