Certified Journalism: Digital Evidence for Newsrooms and Investigations

Certify photos, videos, web pages and field recordings with tamper-proof metadata: every piece of journalistic content becomes verifiable, traceable and defensible.

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In journalism, the credibility of an investigation, a report or a complaint depends on the ability to prove the authenticity of the collected content. Photos taken in conflict zones, videos of public events, screenshots of deleted posts, audio recordings of statements and web pages with defamatory or illicit content can be disputed, manipulated or deleted before being used in editorial or legal proceedings.

Professional journalism ethics codes require rigorous source verification and transparency on the use of artificial intelligence, while the EU AI Act introduces labelling obligations and penalties for deepfakes. TrueScreen enables the certification of every piece of evidence at the moment of acquisition with tamper-proof contextual metadata, ensuring authenticity, integrity and certified timestamps compliant with the EU eIDAS Regulation, reducing verification time and producing structured documentation usable in legal, editorial and judicial proceedings.

Sector

Publishing, media, news, investigative journalism, news agencies

Business function

Newsroom, Investigative desk, Fact-checking, Legal department, Archive

Key process

Collection and certification of sources, content and evidence supporting investigations, reports and publications

Certified content

Photos, videos, audio, screenshots, screen recordings, web pages, chats, emails, documents

Output

Certified documentation and reporting with legal validity

Adoption mode

App / Web / API / SDK

Needs

  • Prove that published photos and videos are authentic with third-party verifiable guarantees

  • Comply with journalist ethics codes and eIDAS requirements for evidentiary value

  • Capture web content before removal preserving context and metadata forensically

  • Certify statements and audio recordings with certified timestamp and author identity

  • Centralize evidence in a structured workflow shareable between newsroom and legal team

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Solution

TrueScreen enables journalists and correspondents to certify photos, videos, audio and documents directly in the field, or web pages, screenshots and screen recordings from the web platform.

Each piece of content receives tamper-proof metadata: certified timestamp, GPS coordinates and digital signature, attesting authenticity and provenance.

Certified content is organized into digital dossiers per investigation, shareable with the newsroom and legal department. The guided process reduces source verification time and standardizes collection when delegated to freelancers.

What gets certified

Field photos and videos

Reports, events, site visits, conflict zones and demonstrations certified with timestamp and geolocation.

Audio recordings of interviews and statements

Interviews, statements and conversations certified with timestamp and author identity.

Web pages and online content

Articles, social posts, ads and illicit content captured before removal using forensic methods.

Screenshots, documents and investigative material

Chats, emails, confidential documents, leaks and investigative material with timestamp and chain of custody.

Expected benefits

  • More credible journalism through certified metadata for location, date and integrity

  • Legal protection for publishers and journalists with court-admissible certified evidence

  • Immediate capture of web content at risk of removal using forensic, traceable methods

  • Standardized collection workflow even with correspondents, freelancers and contributors

  • Complete investigative dossiers shareable with newsroom and law firms without rework

  • Concrete response to ethics code obligations for source verification and transparency

Partners

News outlets, press agencies, investigative newsrooms, TV and radio broadcasters, digital publishers, fact-checking organizations, law firms specializing in media and press law, press freedom associations, NGOs and international human rights organizations.

Integrations

TrueScreen integrates with editorial CMS, newsroom management platforms, digital archiving systems and DAM via API and SDK. Certified reports are exportable in PDF and JSON format, compatible with major document archives, legal case management systems and fact-checking platforms.

FAQ: certified digital evidence for journalism and investigations

1) How can a journalist certify photos and videos captured in the field?
Through the TrueScreen mobile app, journalists capture photos and videos that automatically receive a certified timestamp, GPS coordinates, cryptographic hash and digital signature, attesting to the content’s authenticity and integrity at the moment of capture.
2) Is it possible to certify a web page before it gets removed?
Yes, TrueScreen allows you to capture and certify web pages, social posts and online content with tamper-proof metadata, preserving the original content with a certified timestamp even if the source is subsequently deleted or modified.
3) Does TrueScreen-certified evidence hold up in court?
Yes, TrueScreen certification complies with the EU eIDAS Regulation and international digital evidence standards, producing documentation with certified timestamps and digital signatures usable as evidence in legal proceedings, cease-and-desist letters and rectification requests.
4) How is evidence collection managed with external contributors and freelancers?
TrueScreen allows newsrooms to onboard correspondents, freelancers and contributors with controlled permissions, standardizing the collection workflow and ensuring every piece of captured content meets the same certification standards.
5) How does TrueScreen help comply with journalist ethics codes?
The platform documents the source acquisition process in a traceable and verifiable manner, meeting the rigorous verification and transparency obligations set by professional journalism ethics codes and international standards like C2PA.
6) Can certified evidence be organized by investigation?
Yes, certified content is organized into digital dossiers per investigation, shareable with the newsroom and legal department via secure links or API, with technical reports exportable in PDF and JSON format.

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