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Atlas for journalists
This guide is for investigative journalists using Atlas to correlate vessel movements, flight patterns, and breaking news for stories — and to package the resulting evidence in a form that survives scrutiny.
Recommended layout
| Zone | Panel | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Main canvas | 3D Globe | The visual that ends up in the story |
| Bottom strip | Timeline & events | Build the chronology that becomes the lede |
| Right rail | Detail card | Provenance for any pin you cite |
| Pop-out | News | Cross-reference contemporaneous coverage |
Investigative flow
1. Build the chronology
Pick the date window. Filter the Timeline by event type. Pin every event you'll reference in the story, with a note on why it matters.
2. Verify each event
Atlas surfaces events from upstream providers — it does not validate them. For each pinned event:
- Click through to the underlying source (the news article, the AIS provider's vessel page).
- Cross-reference with at least one independent source.
- Note the upstream provider and timestamp in your evidence file.
3. Capture screenshots and permalinks
For each visual you want in the story:
- Permalink the view (see How do I — Share a permalink).
- Screenshot at publish-ready resolution.
- Note the timestamp at the moment of capture (data may shift on later loads).
4. Package the evidence
For each claim in the story, the evidence file should contain:
- Primary source URL.
- Atlas permalink (where useful).
- Screenshot.
- Timestamp of capture.
- Provenance — which Atlas data provider delivered the data.
This survives readers, editors, lawyers, and post-publication challenges.
Sourcing and citation
Atlas is a tool for finding and cross-referencing — not a primary source. In citations:
- Cite the upstream provider (MarineTraffic, OpenSky, the original news outlet) — not "Atlas".
- Include the timestamp of capture — vessel/aircraft positions are time-sensitive.
- Where you used AI summarization, mark it as such; never present an AI summary as primary reporting.
What Atlas exports
- PDF export for model portfolio reports and Security dashboard panels — useful when financial context anchors the story.
- Permalinks for any panel state — the recipient sees the same view (subject to plan-tier gating).
- Screenshots are out-of-band — use the OS screenshot tool against the active panel.
There is no built-in "export full investigation" feature today; assemble evidence files manually.
Operational security for sensitive stories
For investigations into entities that may push back, treat your account itself as part of the threat model. Read OSINT operational security — separate accounts per investigation domain, 2FA, network-level anonymization, and the boundary the AI chat enforces.
Practical additions for journalists:
- Don't paste source identities into AI chat. The chat sees your panels — it does not need names.
- Don't share permalinks publicly until publication; permalinks may include filter sets that hint at lines of inquiry.
- For multi-party investigations, share Atlas dashboards via permalink — not by sharing accounts.