Information overload and lack of transparency in government are perennial challenges for journalists, so having reliable and powerful tools can make the difference between a hunch and a major investigation.
Now more than ever, investigative and data journalism in Latin America needs allies to help cross-reference information, detect power networks, track down hidden documents on the web, or visualize findings in a clear and compelling way.
At LatAm Journalism Review (LJR), we have compiled eight tools—some new, others well established—that are transforming how investigations are conducted. From platforms that connect government databases to search engines powered by artificial intelligence, these tools have been recommended by well-known journalists who already use them to uncover corruption networks, analyze trends, or tell complex stories with rigor and precision.
NINA
At LJR, we recently published an article about NINA, a platform that connects multiple open databases to find connections between companies and individuals who are government contractors in Latin America.
The Nina platform, developed by the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP for its initials in Spanish), has positioned itself as an ally of investigative reporters in Latin America. It was created in 2020 and has become an important source of data for more than 400 journalists.
“In these five years, we have increased the amount of data and added new countries. We now have information from 21 countries,” Emiliana García, general manager of CLIP, told LJR. “We have also connected it to other data hubs like those of OCCRP, Ojo Público in Peru, and Sayari.”
Access to NINA requires registration and the submission of information about the media outlet the user works for, their country of residence, and nationality. Users can consult information about companies, entities, individuals, contracts, and documents.
Graphext
Graphext is a data analysis tool that makes it easy to explore and visualize large volumes of information without the need for programming.
It is especially useful in data journalism, as it allows users to analyze trends, detect hidden patterns, identify networks of influence, and process unstructured data, such as text and social media. Its visual and interactive approach helps transform complex data into understandable stories.
“I like Graphext because it helps me discover patterns more easily in large volumes of data,” Costa Rican data journalist Hassel Fallas told LJR. “I once used it to find municipalities where there were unusual relationships in public contracting and on another occasion to analyze the songs of the British band Queen”
Users must register. It offers a limited free version and a paid version that allows users to work on multiple projects and with various teams. Special plans are also available for academics and nonprofit organizations.
Hoaxy
Hoaxy is another tool recommended by Hassel Fallas. “This platform has helped me visualize the spread of posts and articles online, allowing me to track how information spreads and detect possible misinformation,” Fallas said.
Hoaxy was developed by the Observatory on Social Media at Indiana University and launched in 2016. It works by searching for keywords or links, analyzing how content is shared on social media, mainly on X.
Through interactive visualizations, it shows the spread of information, identifying sources and patterns of dissemination. It also allows users to compare the spread of suspicious news with fact-checking data, helping journalists and researchers better understand the dynamics of misinformation on the internet.
Cruzagrafos
Marina Gama Cubas, a Brazilian journalist and data editor at the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP), recommends Cruzagrafos.
According to Gama Cubas, this tool—launched in 2020 by Abraji, the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism, and coordinated by Reinaldo Chaves—is the best when starting investigations.
CruzaGrafos is a free tool that allows users to cross-reference data and visualize the resulting relationships in graphs.
Within CruzaGrafos, there are databases on electoral candidacies collected from the Superior Electoral Court, company information from the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service, environmental fines issued by the Brazilian Institute of Environment, the list of federal government debtors and more.
“This initiative aims to catalog, clean, analyze, and publish large public databases, which in Brazil are often scattered and published in formats that are difficult to analyze or contain huge amounts of information,” Abraji said on its website.
It is necessary to register with a login and password to use the tool.
Google NotebookLM
NotebookLM is a research and note-taking tool developed by Google Labs that uses artificial intelligence—specifically the Google Gemini chatbot—to help users interact with their documents.
Journalists can upload different types of files: interview transcripts, government reports, articles, PDFs, and other reference documents. Once uploaded, NotebookLM can generate summaries, explanations, and answer questions.
NotebookLM can also suggest article structures, headlines, or narrative approaches to improve writing. With the “Audio Overviews” feature, journalists can even listen to summaries in audio format, making it easier to review information at any time.
It can be used for free, but in December 2024, Google launched NotebookLM Plus, aimed at businesses and paid Gemini subscribers, offering advanced features and greater processing capacity.
During the 26th International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ), there was a workshop dedicated to NotebookLM. You can check out the summary of what was discussed that day here.
Flourish
Flourish was the tool most frequently mentioned when we asked investigative and data journalists across the region for suggestions. Flourish allows users to create interactive graphics and compelling presentations for free without needing to write code.
It is widely used in data journalism because it simplifies the creation of maps, infographics, animated bar charts, and other formats that help tell stories visually.
“Flourish changed my life because of how easy and adaptable its templates are,” Venezuelan journalist Crysly Egaña told LJR. “You can create almost any kind of visualization.”
Flourish was founded in 2018 by data journalist Duncan Clark and computer scientist Robin Houston with the goal of overcoming the limitations of traditional charting tools by combining customization, interactivity, and ease of use.
In 2022, Flourish was acquired by graphic design platform Canva, allowing it to integrate with the popular design platform and expand its reach to more users around the world.
Pinpoint
Gabriel Labrador, a Salvadoran investigative journalist and reporter for the award-winning outlet El Faro, unhesitatingly recommends Pinpoint.
Pinpoint is a Google tool that allows users to analyze text files, audio, images, and emails. The tool can automatically identify the people, organizations, and locations most frequently mentioned in documents.
It also allows users to transcribe audio files and extract text from handwritten documents.
Pinpoint is part of Google’s Journalist Studio, a set of tools that use artificial intelligence (AI) technology and are aimed at helping journalists do their work “more efficiently, creatively, and safely.”
To use the tool, interested journalists must register and request access.
Google Advanced Search
Google Advanced Search is a tool that allows users to refine their searches to get more specific and relevant results. Instead of simply typing keywords into the search bar, users can use special operators or access the advanced search form—available through Google settings—to filter results by various criteria.
For example, advanced search lets users look for exact phrases, exclude certain words, limit results to a specific website, define date ranges, choose the language, or filter by file type, among other options.
“Even though it seems like a basic tool that we all use every day, I’ve found a lot of public and official information using it,” Daniela Castro, Latin America editor for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), told LJR.
Some useful examples include: quotation marks (" ") to search for exact phrases, site: to limit the search to a specific website (e.g., site:latamjournalismreview.org), filetype: to search for specific file types like PDF or DOC, the minus sign (-) to exclude terms, or AND to find results that contain all the indicated words or terms.
“The quotation marks, ‘site,’ and ‘AND’ are the ones I use the most,” said Castro.
Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich via Pexels.
This article was originally published on LatAm Journalism Review and republished on IJNet under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.