Investigative Journalism Toolkit
Practical guides for UK investigative reporters: OSINT, document analysis, source protection, corporate and political investigations, verification workflows, and cross-border collaboration.
Last reviewed: Next review due:
Start here
This hub is for journalists at all levels who want to move beyond reactive news coverage into original investigative work. Whether you are filing your first document request, building a cross-border investigation, or learning to protect a sensitive source, these guides give you a practical UK-specific methodology.
New to investigative journalism? Start with the UK OSINT Toolkit and Document Analysis guides — they cover the core skills used in almost every investigation.
Working on a specific story? If it involves a company, go to Corporate Investigations. If it involves a source handing you documents, go to Secure Source Handovers. If it crosses borders, see Cross-Jurisdictional Investigations.
On this page
All 15 Investigative Guides
All 15 in-depth guides are live. Each covers a plain-English explanation, red flags, a practical checklist, tool CTAs, common mistakes, related guides, and primary UK sources.
UK OSINT Toolkit for Investigative Journalists
Companies House, Land Registry, BAILII, advanced search operators, Bellingcat methodology, ethical OSINT.
Analysing Documents for Investigative Stories
Financial filings, council reports, planning records, FOI disclosures, audit reports — following the money.
Geolocating Images and Video for UK Journalism
UK landmark identification, street furniture, shadow analysis, satellite imagery, recording your evidence trail.
Working With Whistleblowers in UK Journalism
PIDA 1998 protected disclosures, pre-engagement risk, verifying materials, managing legal risk.
Secure Source Handovers for Investigative Journalists
SecureDrop, OnionShare, Signal, encrypted USB, metadata stripping, chain of custody.
Handling Data Leaks and Document Dumps Responsibly
Large dataset verification, air-gapped analysis, ICIJ/OCCRP toolkits, redaction, minimum-necessary disclosure.
Cross-Jurisdictional UK Investigations
OCCRP, ICIJ, EIC.network, UK tax haven connections, international registries, FCA and HMRC cooperation.
Corporate Investigations: UK Companies and Beneficial Owners
Companies House search, PSC register, shell company identification, FCA register, sanctions cross-referencing.
Political Investigations & Lobbying Registers
Register of Members' Interests, ORCL lobbyist register, IPSA expenses, party donation data, devolved parliament registers.
Interview Techniques for Hostile Subjects
Right-of-reply framing, lawful recording, pre-publication legal review, IPSO Clause 1 obligations for hostile or PR-coached subjects.
Verification Workflows for Breaking News
Multi-source verification under deadline: reverse image search, geolocation, source triangulation, deepfake detection.
Building and Managing a Source Network
Source cultivation, CRM hygiene, rotation, secure introductions, gifts ethics, NUJ Code obligations, and source protection.
Using Court Records in Investigations
BAILII, Crown Court press lists, magistrates' court lists, official transcripts, reporting restrictions, Practice Direction 16.
Covering Organised Crime Safely
Risk assessment, source protection, digital security, NCA liaison, naming suspects before charge, contempt and defamation risks.
Environmental Investigations: Planning, Pollution & Enforcement
Planning portal, Environment Agency permits, EDM spill data, EIR requests, Land Registry, Ofwat, and corporate defamation risks.
Companies House Forensics
Filing history, statutory accounts, the PSC register, director networks, disqualifications, dissolved companies, and red flags.
Beneficial Ownership & Its Loopholes
PSC weaknesses, the Register of Overseas Entities (ECTEA 2022), trusts, nominees, ECCTA 2023, and piercing ownership.
Crypto Tracing for Journalists
Following funds on public blockchains, block explorers, mixers, exchange KYC choke points, and attribution limits.
Money Laundering Investigation Techniques
Placement/layering/integration, POCA, Unexplained Wealth Orders, red flags, asset tracing, and defamation care.
Whistleblower & Source Payment Ethics
The presumption against payment, IPSO Clauses 15 & 16, PIDA protection risks, expenses vs payment, and sign-off.
Investigating a Cybersecurity Breach
Verifying breach claims, Computer Misuse Act risk, harm minimisation, the ICO framework, and cautious attribution.
Local Contacts & Fixers for UK Reporting
Building local knowledge off your patch: the LDRS, local NUJ branches, regional press, and the ethics of working with fixers.
Case Study: Post Office Horizon Scandal
How the wrongful subpostmaster prosecutions were exposed and reported — the quashed convictions, the inquiry, and the lessons.
Case Study: Cambridge Analytica & Cadwalladr
The data-harvesting exposé and the two-stage Banks v Cadwalladr libel case: the s.4 defence, the 2023 appeal, and SLAPP debate.
Case Study: Panama Papers, the UK Angle
The 2016 ICIJ/Mossack Fonseca leak as a data-journalism case study: global collaboration, scale, verification, and the UK dimension.
Case Study: Paradise Papers UK Follow-ups
The 2017 ICIJ/Appleby leak: reporting lawful-but-newsworthy offshore arrangements, and distinguishing planning from evasion.
Case Study: Reporting the LIBOR Prosecutions
Covering financial-crime litigation to its conclusion — the convictions, their 2025 quashing by the Supreme Court, and correcting the record.
Case Study: Reporting the Grenfell Inquiry
Sensitive, bereaved-centred coverage of the fire and inquiry: trauma-informed reporting, accuracy on the findings, and accountability.
Case Study: The Fake Sheikh Collapse
Subterfuge and entrapment ethics: the sting method, IPSO Clause 10, the 2016 conviction, and exposing wrongdoing vs manufacturing it.
Useful Tools
These tools in our toolkit section directly support investigative work. They are free and require no account.
FOI Request Builder
Draft well-structured FOI requests for any UK public authority — essential for document-based investigations.
Source Protection Guide
Step-by-step protocols for protecting source identity in digital and in-person handovers.
Investigation Risk Register
Track legal, personal safety, and editorial risks across a long-running investigation.
Social Media Verifier
Checklist for verifying images, accounts, and claims from social media sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be a staff journalist to do investigative work?
No. Investigative journalism is open to freelancers, local reporters, student journalists, and independent researchers. The main requirements are patience, meticulous record-keeping, and a clear methodology. Many of the most impactful UK investigations have been led by small regional outlets or freelancers. Tools like Companies House, BAILII, and WhatDoTheyKnow are free to use.
What is OSINT and is it legal in the UK?
OSINT — Open Source Intelligence — is the practice of gathering information from publicly available sources. This includes company registers, planning records, court documents, social media, and satellite imagery. It is entirely legal in the UK as long as you are using publicly accessible sources, not breaching terms of service through automated scraping, and not impersonating anyone. The key ethical constraint is proportionality: is the level of research appropriate to the public interest served?
How do I protect a source in a UK investigation?
Source protection in the UK rests on several pillars: encrypted communications (Signal, SecureDrop), in-person handovers in low-surveillance environments, strict metadata hygiene, and understanding the legal framework around compelled disclosure. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 give authorities significant powers to seek source material via production orders. Consult your NUJ representative or a media lawyer before any investigation involving sensitive sources.
What is the difference between an investigation and a story based on a tip-off?
A tip-off is the starting point; an investigation is the process of verifying, contextualising, and documenting the claim through independent evidence. A good investigation does not simply relay what a source tells you — it builds a corroborated evidence base that would stand up to legal scrutiny, an independent audit, and, ultimately, to a claimant's lawyers. This usually means document trails, multiple independent sources, and contemporaneous records.
When should I involve my editor in an investigation?
Early and often. Your editor needs to know about investigations that carry legal risk (defamation, contempt, privacy), that require significant resources, or that involve sensitive sources. Keeping your editor in the loop also protects you: editorial sign-off before publication, documented in the file, is your first line of defence if legal threats follow. Many outlets have a formal pre-publication legal review process for investigative pieces.
What is the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and does it affect journalists?
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and its successor the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA) govern surveillance by public authorities. They do not directly restrict journalists — but they give police and intelligence agencies powers that can be used to identify a journalist's sources through communications data. The Metropolitan Police's use of RIPA against journalists' phone records has been investigated and criticised by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. This is why secure digital communications are not optional for sensitive investigations.
Start your first investigation today
Use our free FOI Request Builder, source protection guide, and risk register to get your investigation structured from day one.