Sep 29, 2022
OSINT research can leave any of us traumatised
A day like any other. A new video on my Twitter feed. Then I started having nightmares.
Making money in journalism with Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) sounds exciting. Indeed, it is. Delivering exciting, complex analysis, verifying videos, showing the world something new, getting to the bottom of things and confirming horrendous acts with evidence that may lead to justice. That’s what we live for.
But some days — especially those, it seems, when you’re off work — you get to see the other side of the coin of that life. Part of the problem: You still stare at your cell phone all the time. And after work? What’s left there, anyway? Besides horrible pictures and videos in your head. Yes, the feeling you contributed something to the truth. But the images remain.
It’s no secret. This work can traumatise even the most hardened investigative colleagues. Especially when you are constantly working with images and videos from the war. Like leeches, these clips may stick in your head. A cruel head cinema can be the result. Otherwise, rather insensitive, there was such a case I encountered yesterday.
Video →Nightmare
I am off right now. Taking care of my little one. A video of a well-known OSINT profile posts a video on Twitter, from the Ukraine war. A man, a Russian soldier, has his leg placed on a step. Then someone jumps on it, breaking it. Its vicious. The victim is wearing white socks, like me. It’s disgusting. It triggers me.
I am usually no one to be “triggered”. But it did. And when it did, a cascade of negative emotions. And not only psychologically. But also physically. I jump up uncontrollably. Fists clenched. Eyes closed. Sweat on my forehead. In short: the scene released a small-scale traumatic shock.
I am an investigative journalist. In my job, I watch “gory” videos, day in and day out. So I’m actually hardened up when it comes to such graphic content. I admit. The Ukraine war has already taken a lot out of me. Dead soldiers, lifeless bodies, torture, dead children — so far, I’ve always been able to deal with all that quite well in my job. Why did this particular video trigger so much pain and despair?
It could be the meniscus surgery last year that subliminally traumatised me. The video could have reawakened a psychological pain. At that time, it took months for me to get back on my feet. Since then, the knee issue has been a special one. Could it be that this video somehow cognitively links my experience to pain and experienced? Or is it some other psychological effect that triggered something? Whatever it was, writing and talking about does help. That is free advice for my colleagues, too.
But not only to colleagues but also to employers in the field, I can only appeal. Be vigilant and take care of your people. In extreme cases, only a therapist can (and should) help. This is nothing to be ashamed of. This work is hard. It leaves traces. Especially newspapers and media that employ OSINT journalists should pay attention to psychological despair. Colleagues should also discuss the issue more. Everyone in our field who has had to deal with conflicts and crisis areas in recent months and years runs the risk of being confronted with trauma.
