> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://interhacktives.mymagic.page/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# 4 Ways Journalists Can Use Satellite Imagery in Storytelling
- URL: https://interhacktives.mymagic.page/4-ways-journalists-can-use-satellite-imagery-in-storytelling/
- Published: 2022-12-16T09:58:43.000Z
- Updated: 2022-12-16T09:58:43.000Z
- Description: Journalists are learning how to use satellite images to push their reporting in new directions.
- Author: tamsinp
- Tags: News, imagery, interhacktives, investigations, satellite, #Migrated-1793717950415, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-11-03 14:59

As a new generation of smaller, lighter ‘[disrupter](https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/growth-satellite-imagery-journalism?ref=interhacktives.mymagic.page)’ satellites enter the market, the possibilities for journalists to use satellite imagery in their work has also opened up.  
  
Satellite companies, namely [Planet Labs](https://www.planet.com/?ref=interhacktives.mymagic.page) and [Digital Globe](https://www.maxar.com/?ref=interhacktives.mymagic.page) can provide media clients with satellite imagery in near real-time- satellite images not only an attractive visual aid to a story but a tool for newsgathering itself.  
  
Here are some of the ways that this emerging technology can be used by journalists:

## 1\. Verification

Images taken from space can be used to verify whether events that were large enough actually happened. [The New York Times Visual Investigations](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/visual-investigations?ref=interhacktives.mymagic.page) team used imagery to reconstruct [how a Ukrainian passenger plane was shot down over Iran.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcFn6KsxOgo&ref=interhacktives.mymagic.page) Events that are large enough to show up on a satellite image, such as explosions or environmental disasters, can also be crucially verified through satellite imagery.

## 2\. Geolocation

Satellite imagery can be used by journalists and online researchers to confirm whether an event happened or took place, but also to identify exactly where videos or images happened.

## 3\. Change over time

Using satellite imagery, journalists can compare photos from before and after to track large scale changes in infrastructure or landscape. An amazing example of this is the work of [Texty](https://texty.org.ua/?ref=interhacktives.mymagic.page), a Ukrainian online outlet that analysed satellite images to show how the landscape had suffered following the impact of illegal amber mining in ‘[Leprosy of the Land.’](https://texty.org.ua/d/2018/amber%5Feng/?ref=interhacktives.mymagic.page)

## 4\. A Smoking Gun

Satellite images can provide the crucial piece of information that evidences an entire investigation. Such was the case in [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/?ref=interhacktives.mymagic.page)’ 18-month-long ‘[Seafood From Slaves](https://www.ap.org/explore/seafood-from-slaves/?ref=interhacktives.mymagic.page)’ investigation. Here, reporters used a satellite image showing an interaction between a cargo vessel and fishing trawlers that provided the evidence they needed to prove slavery in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia.