Nieman Lab.
Predictions for
Journalism, 2025.
Over the last decade, many major news organizations have set up teams and sub-brands devoted to “visual investigations” or “visual forensics.” Their success signals the next major shift in reporting practices. Similar to “data journalism” before them, visual investigations are poised to move from niche desks to standard operating procedure in newsrooms in 2025 as their tools and techniques become more accessible and known to non-specialists.
The high degree of visual documentation that’s available today, from eyewitnesses with smartphones via surveillance cameras to satellite imagery and street view–style footage, has made images of events abundant in many cases. As journalists’ competency in such forensic-style analysis of visual material rises (thanks in part to pioneering efforts by actors like BBC, The New York Times, and Bellingcat), this practice will become a mainstay of journalism.
The “classic” visual investigative story gathers swaths of visuals and other data — typically in one central timeline — to recreate a past event and illuminate its critical moments through visual documentation and models. While the most ambitious projects — extended documentaries and 3D-model recreations — might still be reserved for the largest and most resourceful newsrooms, many of the individual techniques and approaches that make up such extensive investigations can be successfully adopted by smaller newsrooms and individual journalists. As the foundational analysis techniques of visual investigations become widely known in journalism, it’ll quickly become apparent that they can enhance the reporting on almost any type of news story.
Norwegian media’s collective push to build and spread verification and forensic analysis of visual material to more newsrooms after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine offers a glimpse of what’s to come. Outlets like VG, Norway’s largest daily, now use visual investigative techniques when reporting local run-of-the-mill stories.
Visual investigations will go from a niche in investigative journalism to standard newsroom practice. This will redefine how regular stories are researched, fact-checked, and reported. The increased focus on visual investigations in journalism mirrors the importance visual material has in society, which is not likely to end anytime soon.
While forensic analysis and verification will be essential going forward, they will not always be enough. Journalists will need to pair technical verification with contextual analysis to uncover what visual material reveals, what it excludes, and how it shapes competing narratives. The continued success of any visual investigation hinges on this dual approach.
Ståle Grut is a doctoral research fellow of the Photofake project at the University of Oslo.
Over the last decade, many major news organizations have set up teams and sub-brands devoted to “visual investigations” or “visual forensics.” Their success signals the next major shift in reporting practices. Similar to “data journalism” before them, visual investigations are poised to move from niche desks to standard operating procedure in newsrooms in 2025 as their tools and techniques become more accessible and known to non-specialists.
The high degree of visual documentation that’s available today, from eyewitnesses with smartphones via surveillance cameras to satellite imagery and street view–style footage, has made images of events abundant in many cases. As journalists’ competency in such forensic-style analysis of visual material rises (thanks in part to pioneering efforts by actors like BBC, The New York Times, and Bellingcat), this practice will become a mainstay of journalism.
The “classic” visual investigative story gathers swaths of visuals and other data — typically in one central timeline — to recreate a past event and illuminate its critical moments through visual documentation and models. While the most ambitious projects — extended documentaries and 3D-model recreations — might still be reserved for the largest and most resourceful newsrooms, many of the individual techniques and approaches that make up such extensive investigations can be successfully adopted by smaller newsrooms and individual journalists. As the foundational analysis techniques of visual investigations become widely known in journalism, it’ll quickly become apparent that they can enhance the reporting on almost any type of news story.
Norwegian media’s collective push to build and spread verification and forensic analysis of visual material to more newsrooms after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine offers a glimpse of what’s to come. Outlets like VG, Norway’s largest daily, now use visual investigative techniques when reporting local run-of-the-mill stories.
Visual investigations will go from a niche in investigative journalism to standard newsroom practice. This will redefine how regular stories are researched, fact-checked, and reported. The increased focus on visual investigations in journalism mirrors the importance visual material has in society, which is not likely to end anytime soon.
While forensic analysis and verification will be essential going forward, they will not always be enough. Journalists will need to pair technical verification with contextual analysis to uncover what visual material reveals, what it excludes, and how it shapes competing narratives. The continued success of any visual investigation hinges on this dual approach.
Ståle Grut is a doctoral research fellow of the Photofake project at the University of Oslo.
