Make your sources talk: elicitation, motivation, provocation… investigative journalists do it too

If you understand Swedish, you must listen to this presentation titled “The ABC of investigative journalism”, by Nils Hanson from Swedish national television (SVT). It was made during the 2012 seminar on the topic of investigative journalism held in Malmö, Sweden, during the week-end of March 23-25. This was the 16:th time Nils Hanson made this presentation.

The interesting thing here is that Nils Hanson represents the community of investigative journalists and reporters, who think of them selves as being among “the good guys”, revealing the truth to the public, uncovering what corrupt politicians hide and even sometimes shedding light on dodgy activities of government intelligence and security organizations.

However, when listening to Nils Hanson, you will hear him describe to his audience of journalists how they should go about in order to make an unwilling human source talk, how they should go about in order to make an unwilling private person agree to becoming the subject of a news story and so on.

If you have government or military intelligence training in the field of HUMINT, you will immediately notice that the methods recommended by Nils Hanson are spot-on similar to the methods used by government and military intelligence operators. The key words are elicitation, motivation, provocation, flattery, favors and favors in return and so on:

– Build trust and rapport by starting out talking about something irrelevant non-sensitive and/or slightly humouristic
– Reduce tension in a situation where the source is refusing to talk by asking for something trivial like a cigarette, and then a match and so on
– Motivate the source to talk by providing gifts without asking for anything in return and by making considerable and noticeable efforts. This will build confidence, and also a sense of indebtedness.
– When a source is refusing to be the subject of a news story or refusing to being interviewed in television, tell the source that full control is with him/her, and start moving in small steps while telling the source that he/she can back out at any time. Having committed to a recorded interview, where several people spent a lot of time, the source will seldom back out and tell them all that their efforts and work have been for nothing.

All of these methods push well-known and simple psychological buttons and leverage mechanisms of human nature such as our reluctance to jump of the band wagon once we have been on it for a while. Normal people have a strong inner voice that talks about commitment, promise, responsibility, duty, gratitude, debt, payback, fairness etc.

I am sure not many of the journalists at the Gräv 2012 seminar would feel comfortable to think of them selves as working with the same toolbox as an intelligence officer managing his human assets.

http://bambuser.com/v/2494983

Ex MI5 Annie Machon become whistleblower talks about disinformation and media manipulation

The Swedish association for investigative journalism today terminated their annual weekend event of seminars and presentations, in Malmö, Sweden: http://www.grav12.se

Among the more colorful  – and from an international perspective more relevant – presentations was the one made by British Annie Machon, ex MI5 operator and whistleblower, currently in involuntary exile. The topic of her talk was disinformation and the manipulation of the media. She talked on Friday, March 23.

She started her talk by mapping up the different bodies of the UK intelligence community (MI5, MI6, GCHQ etc), before going on to describe her way into the MI5, and back out again. She spent six years in the MI5, including 2-year postings in T-branch and G-branch.

Having decided to blow the whistle – partly due to MI6 financing of Libyan terrorists and unjustified MI5 registration of UK citizens – she found herself being hunted pray with UK police, MI5 and MI6 on her trail.

The big take-away of this lecture from an open source intelligence point of view are the challenges related to source credibility and source valuation. Annie Machon testifies about the regular use of agents of influence: people in the media who are on the payroll of the intelligence services, as well as the existence of i-ops departments (i-ops – information operations).  Basically, this is plain and simple a reminder that there is no such thing as an unbiased news article. However, the thing you don’t regularly suspect is that the editor of the paper you are reading has a strong personal bond and strong sympathies with some government intelligence organization with an agenda not necessarily in keeping with the actual truth.

http://bambuser.com/v/2494752

Mathematics is the infrastructure required by all branches of science

Chalmers Technical University in Gothenburg, Sweden, publish a magazine called “Chalmers magasin”, with the purpose of marketing the university.

In issue n:o 1 2012, assistant professor of mathematics Torbjörn Lundh is interviewed. He makes a number of notable statements:

“Mathematics is a support science, the infrastructure required by all branches of science.”

“When people from the industry are asked what the require of recently graduated engineers, they often reply: ‘They should have taken a lot of maths’. What kind of maths? ‘It doesn’t matter’. What they want is the logical thinking, the ability to read struktures and create arguments and models of their own. They are supposed to break new ground”, says Lundh.

“It is hard to tell which kind of mathematics that will be needed in the future. 40 years ago, nobody could foresee that algebraic geometry would become so central to the encryption industry as it is today.”

“The mathematics picked up by the industry [for commerical application] is often ‘old’, not uncommonly one or a couple of hundred years old.”

“Mathematics take a long time to learn and the subject has a long time to maturity before it is applicable in other sciences and in the industry. Therefore there are no shortcuts. If we want sustainable development in scientific research in Sweden we have to start thinking more long-term”, says Lundh. “Other countries have already understood this requirement, like the USA, Germany and South Korea.”

http://www.chalmers.se/sv/om-chalmers/alumni/cm/Documents/CM-1-12webb.pdf

(pages 28-29)