Journalist & Investigator
Source Verification & Claim Analysis
Your reputation is your product. You need source-grading, network mapping, and narrative tracing that holds up under adversarial scrutiny.
Why teams in this role struggle today
Investigative work is increasingly done against better-resourced adversaries and within shorter deadlines. The old tools — a spreadsheet of sources, a whiteboard of entities, manual citation tracking — cannot keep up with the pace at which narratives now propagate.
Pre-publication claim verification
Situation
You are a desk editor vetting claims in a junior reporter's draft before it goes to legal review. The story rests on three factual assertions — two sourced to a single government-adjacent report and one to a social-media thread. Any one of them unchecked could expose the publication to a retraction or a defamation claim. You have 48 hours.
The question
"Verify the following three claims in [Draft Story]: [Claim A about [Entity X]], [Claim B about [Policy Y]], and [Claim C from [Source Z]] — graded by reliability and with any contradicting evidence surfaced."
How Mapshock handles it
Mapshock opens a Claims Network on each assertion, drawing from 850+ source domains graded A through D by reliability. For every claim, you see which graded outlets corroborate it, which contradict it, and which offer no coverage at all — making the evidence map explicit rather than impressionistic. Source Integrity Check flags diversity warnings when corroboration clusters in a single wire service or government-adjacent publication, the pattern that most often precedes a retraction. Structural Contradictions surfaces cases where sources in the same tier reach opposite conclusions, giving you the precise language to either resolve the conflict in the copy or flag it as unresolved for legal. MARIA synthesises the verification audit into a plain-language summary — which claims cleared, which are contested, and which rest on single-source assertions that need additional reporting. Dossiers on the named entities surface any prior credibility signals about the originating sources.
Artifacts
- Claims Network
- Source Integrity Check
- Structural Contradictions
- Dossiers
- MARIA
Outcome
A claim-by-claim audit document that holds up against adversarial legal review — with every assertion graded, every source diversity gap flagged, and a clear list of what still needs a second independent source before publication.
Network mapping for investigative reporting
Situation
You are chasing a cross-border money-laundering story with a three-week deadline. You have a list of 14 named companies across four jurisdictions and a working hypothesis that a single beneficial owner controls most of them through nominee directors. The connections are real but buried in corporate registries, offshore filings, and financial disclosures that span three languages.
The question
"Map the ownership and control relationships among [Entity List: 14 companies across [Jurisdiction A], [Jurisdiction B], [Jurisdiction C], [Jurisdiction D]] and identify the likely beneficial-owner structure."
How Mapshock handles it
The Knowledge Map renders the full ownership and board-overlap network across all 14 entities, drawing on 850+ graded source domains including corporate registries, regulatory filings, and investigative databases. Graph analytics surface clusters — groups of entities that share directors, registered addresses, or filing agents — making the structural pattern visible at a glance rather than requiring you to trace each link manually. Dossiers on the key nodes give you the underlying detail: director histories, prior regulatory actions, and any prior investigative coverage rated by source reliability. Structural Contradictions flags cases where one registry lists a director and another omits them, the discrepancy pattern most consistent with nominee arrangements. Narrative Evolution shows how the public story about each entity has shifted over time, surfacing the moments when beneficial-owner claims changed in corporate filings or press coverage.
Artifacts
- Knowledge Map
- Graph
- Dossiers
- Structural Contradictions
- Narrative Evolution
Outcome
A sourced network map showing the control structure across all 14 entities — with every link graded by evidence quality, nominee-director discrepancies documented, and the beneficial-owner hypothesis either supported or falsified against graded registry data.
Narrative origin & propagation tracing
Situation
You are covering an influence-operation story. A specific framing — that a foreign government secretly funds a domestic civil-society coalition — has spread across 60-plus outlets in three weeks. You need to establish who published it first, how it moved from fringe to mainstream, and whether the originating claim rests on any independently graded source or was seeded without one.
The question
"Trace the origin and propagation of the narrative that [Government X] secretly funds [Coalition Y] — first publication, amplification sequence, and whether any graded primary source underlies it."
How Mapshock handles it
Narrative Evolution reconstructs the timeline of how the framing appeared and spread: which outlet published it first, which amplified it within 24 hours, and where it crossed from partisan to mainstream coverage. Timeline arranges the publication sequence chronologically, so you can show the editorial chain of custody rather than assert it. Source Integrity Check grades the originating outlet and every significant amplifier, flagging cases where an A-grade outlet cited a D-grade source without independent verification — the fingerprint of laundered narratives. The Tactical Feed surfaces any new publications citing this framing as they appear, keeping your story current through publication. Dossiers on the originating outlet and the named coalition surface prior credibility signals, funding disclosures, and any prior investigative coverage that contextualises the claim.
Artifacts
- Narrative Evolution
- Timeline
- Source Integrity Check
- Tactical Feed
- Dossiers
Outcome
A documented propagation map from first publication to mainstream pickup — with the originating source graded, the amplification sequence sourced, and the presence or absence of an independent primary source established on the record.
Want to see journalist & investigator-grade work on your own question?
Request access →Background dossier on a subject / entity
Situation
You are opening an investigation into a mid-tier political fundraiser with reported links to a state-owned enterprise and two offshore vehicles. You have a name, a LinkedIn profile, and three press mentions. You need a complete picture — business history, network, prior controversy, and any public-record red flags — before you commit reporting resources or contact the subject.
The question
"Build a full background dossier on [Subject Name] — business history, corporate affiliations, political connections, prior controversy, and any red flags in graded public-record sources."
How Mapshock handles it
Mapshock assembles a Dossier on the subject from 850+ graded source domains, surfacing corporate directorships, public-record financial disclosures, regulatory interactions, litigation mentions, and prior investigative coverage — each claim rated by source reliability. The Knowledge Map renders the subject's network: which entities share their directorships, which political figures appear in the same filing records, and how the offshore vehicles connect to known principals. Narrative Evolution shows how the public story about this subject has changed over time — positions taken and later deleted, affiliations disclosed and later dropped — giving you a chronology of claims to test. The Claims Network maps areas where sources disagree about the subject's role or affiliations, flagging the contested assertions that warrant direct reporting. Timeline assembles the sequence of corporate registrations, regulatory filings, and press appearances in chronological order so you can see the career arc rather than isolated data points.
Artifacts
- Dossiers
- Knowledge Map
- Narrative Evolution
- Claims Network
- Timeline
Outcome
A pre-contact intelligence brief that tells you who you are actually investigating — with every material claim graded, the network rendered, and a clear list of the contested assertions your on-the-record reporting needs to resolve.
Source diversity & integrity audit
Situation
You are the standards editor at a digital outlet that publishes 30-plus stories a week. A recent reader complaint alleges that your coverage of a specific policy area draws almost exclusively from government-adjacent sources and a single trade association. You need to audit the sourcing pattern across your recent output and identify which beats have the highest concentration risk before the next editorial review.
The question
"Audit the source diversity and reliability of coverage on [Policy Area / Beat] over the past 90 days — which outlets, wire services, and primary sources dominate, where is the grading weakest, and which claims rest on single-source assertions?"
How Mapshock handles it
Source Integrity Check analyses the sourcing profile for the specified beat, flagging concentration warnings when coverage clusters in a single outlet tier, government press office, or trade-association release cycle. The Claims Network maps which factual assertions in that coverage are corroborated across multiple graded sources versus which rest on a single A/B/C/D-graded origin — the single-source claims are where retraction risk is highest. Dossiers on the dominant sources in the audit surface prior reliability records: corrections issued, retractions, conflicts of interest disclosed in graded outlets. Narrative Evolution shows whether the editorial framing on this beat has narrowed or diversified over the audit window, giving you a trend rather than a snapshot. An Analysis Briefing synthesises the full audit into a sourcing-health report you can bring to the editorial review.
Artifacts
- Source Integrity Check
- Claims Network
- Dossiers
- Narrative Evolution
- Analysis Briefing
Outcome
A sourcing-health audit by beat — concentration risks quantified, single-source claims identified, and a prioritised list of the sourcing gaps that need remediation before the next editorial cycle.
Example briefings for this role
Live, published intelligence products relevant to journalist & investigators.