Presentation: While OSINV tools are generally praised for their universality and accessibility, the reality on the ground tells a different story. For some practitioners in the Global North, these tools are not always accessible, for reasons including prohibitive costs and limited local data that are contextually unfit in regions such as West Africa. There’s therefore a critical need to reconsider the idea of “openness” in OSINV. I draw on the practical experiences of journalists and fact-checkers in West Africa to explore this challenge and highlight some of the creative workarounds employed to adapt OSINV tools to local investigative and verification needs.
Biography: Jonas Nyabor is a graduate student at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication of the University of Iowa, USA. His research explores journalism practice and the intersection of AI and information disorder in the African news media. He draws on over a decade’s experience as a journalist, fact-checker and trainer in leading national and continent newsrooms. In 2022, he won Africa Check’s Best Fact-checking Report award for his investigation into a coordinated COVID-19 disinformation campaign in West Africa.
