Episode 21: GEOINT, OSINT & Facing Vicarious Trauma with Benjamin Strick

This week I spoke to Benjamin Strick, director of investigations at the Centre for Information Resilience. He leads teams using open source intelligence to support civil society, media, government and accountability mechanisms. He is also a Bellingcat contributor and previously worked as an investigator at BBC Africa Eye.

You can find Benjamin Strick on:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Facebook

We spoke about

• Benjamin's background (2:46)
• Investigative diligence and the power of collaboration in OSINT (6:02)
• Mapping complex situations (7:52)
• Benjamin's most fulfilling project (12:13)
• Adding value and being a specialist (15:20)
• Generalists versus Specialists (19:19)
• Facing vicarious trauma (25:14)
• Why he does OSINT tutorials on YouTube (32:45)
• Digital literacy (35:48)
• Tools and advice (42:17)
• Advice on training (46:51)
• The importance of being to write for intelligence (49:35)
• What media Benjamin is consuming at the moment (53:16)

Related Articles:

• What is an Intelligence Analyst?
• So, You Want to be an Intelligence Analyst?
• Expert Advice For Getting Into Intelligence

Resources on Vicarious Trauma:

• How to Maintain Mental Hygiene as an Open Source Researcher
• Vicarious trauma and OSINT — a practical guide

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