Tools and resources for journalists covering the Ukrainian war

Credit: Photo by Nicolas Raymond on Flickr

The internet is full of user-generated content, dubious information and claims from unverified sources. We rounded up a list of tools and resources for journalists who cover the Ukrainian war either for their publication or on social media.

Verified updates

The UK organisation Full Fact publishes regular fact-checked updates about Ukraine. You can also use its toolkit to help you spot false information.

Follow Full Fact on Twitter

Another great source of fact-checked information comes from the non-profit news organisation Bellingcat which publishes and updates a dubious and debunked claims spreadsheet. It informs you on the incident narrative and gives you the fact-checked version, plus the link to the original source. For more information about how Russia spreads misinformation, read this article.

Follow Bellingcat on Twitter

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) published this helpful thread with plenty of tips on covering the Ukrainian war.

As Russia attacks Ukraine, here's a thread with resources and news articles that may be useful for journalists today. Please share and add suggestions

1️⃣ Here's a public database of dubious footage debunked and periodically updated by @bellingcat https://t.co/6fOoyvTOQ5 pic.twitter.com/PVPnaejjzq

— Reuters Institute (@risj_oxford) February 24, 2022

Fact-checking tools

UK nonprofit fact-checker First Draft has a great collection of training courses and toolkits to help you spot and tackle misinformation. These are also available in French, Spanish and German.

Follow First Draft on Twitter

If you are looking for a crash course on fact-checking, these videos from Poynter show you what to do and what tools to use when verifying information.

Verifying images and videos is an absolute must, as they spread with the speed of light. Here are nine tools you can use, rounded up by IJNet.

Follow IJNet on Twitter

Disinformation is a tool for aggression and is heavily used these days.

We stand by our fact-checking community in Ukraine and strongly encourage you to follow and reach out to @voxukraine and @StopFakingNews before you share any footage and news from Ukraine.

— International Fact-Checking Network (@factchecknet) February 24, 2022

Nieman Lab has pulled together a list of resources, from Twitter lists and live blogs to maps and free translation tools.

Follow Nieman Lab on Twitter

There are a good few that we featured on Journalism.co.uk. Here are eight resources for verifying information and tips on reporting misinformation from official sources (the truth sandwich).

Ethics, safety and trauma

There is a fine line between public interest news and sensationalism. To help you tackle some of the ethical challenges around sharing information and visuals from Ukraine, Poynter sums up ethical considerations for journalists as the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfolds.

Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma rounds up resources for journalists who report on survivors and refugees of the conflict.

There is also a helpful guide from the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) on essential steps for journalists in emergency situations.

Follow GIJN on Twitter

If you are going to speak to survivors of attacks and refugees, here is what to do before, during and after the interview. Although the piece was written during the conflict in Afghanistan, all the tips apply.

War reporting is not just for war correspondents - newsroom staff suffer from PTSD too and vicarious trauma needs to be taken seriously. Here are some tips for journalists to protect their mental health while witnessing these tragic events.

What tools and resources have we missed? Get in touch

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).