A reporter investigating the disappearance of a forest can interview residents, question government officials and sift through policy documents.
But what happens when those accounts conflict and official records are incomplete or unavailable? Increasingly, the answer may not lie in another interview or file, but in an image captured hundreds of kilometres above the Earth.
Investigative journalism has always been about uncovering truths that powerful interests would rather keep hidden.
For decades, reporters relied on confidential sources, public records, field observations and persistence to expose corruption, environmental abuse and human rights violations.
While those methods remain indispensable, the profession is undergoing a quiet transformation as digital technologies provide new ways to verify claims and tell compelling stories.
Around the world, investigative journalists are increasingly turning to data, geolocation tools, satellite imagery and other forms of open-source intelligence to strengthen their reporting.
These tools are helping reporters corroborate information, identify patterns and present evidence that goes beyond eyewitness accounts.
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In Nigeria, where environmental degradation, rapid urbanisation and climate-related disasters continue to affect communities, such technologies are beginning to attract attention among journalists seeking more evidence-based approaches to reporting.
One of those technologies is Earth Observation, which uses satellite imagery and remote sensing data to monitor changes on the Earth’s surface over time.
Once associated mainly with scientists and researchers, it is gradually finding relevance in newsrooms, particularly for environmental investigations.
In an interview with SolaceBase, Dr Murtala Uba Muhammad, a remote sensing and Geographic Information System researcher in the Department of Geography at Bayero University, Kano, said satellite imagery enables journalists to compare how places have changed over the years.
“Using that picture, we can see the area 10 years ago and see the situation now. You can be able to see how buildings are encroaching on water bodies or how forests are gradually being eaten up by other activities such as farming.”
For investigative reporters, such comparisons can provide an independent layer of verification.
Rather than relying solely on competing claims, journalists can examine visual records that reveal whether a river has narrowed, a wetland has disappeared or urban development has spread into areas once covered by vegetation.
Environmental investigations are among the areas where these tools can make a significant difference.
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Questions about illegal mining, deforestation, flooding, erosion and encroachment often require evidence that spans years rather than days.
Satellite imagery makes it possible to observe those long-term changes, helping reporters place current events within a broader context.
Muhammad believes such images can also make complex stories easier for the public to understand.
“We can use it to communicate what words cannot communicate because remote sensing is pictorial. It is something that we can use to support our reporting as evidence-based journalism.”
Unlike technical reports that often appeal to specialists, he argued, images provide a universal language capable of reaching wider audiences.
Still, technology alone cannot produce a good investigation. Satellite images cannot explain why a forest disappeared, identify those responsible or reveal the human consequences of environmental destruction.
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Those answers still require traditional reporting—speaking with affected communities, consulting experts, reviewing official documents and seeking responses from authorities.
