Bellingcat is a supposedly amateur run, supposedly independent, source of image analyses on controversial images. Its operator, Eliot Higgins has been praised by The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian. He was the subject of a BBC piece on 27 September 2018.[1] Robert Parry termed Bellingcat's analysis of satellite photos about Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 an "amateurish [and] anti-Russian... fraud".[2] Robin Ramsay noted in 2021 that: “Among [Bellingcat]'s current personnel we have a former British Army officer, a former employee of GCHQ, former members of the US Department of Defense, the US Secret Service, the US Army and the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.” [3] Another commentator claimed that Higgins has constantly been a source of dis/misinformation on Syria and Ukraine: "It's not so much ‘Bellingcat’ as ‘smell a rat’."[4]
I like how Wikispooks describes Bellingcat:
Bellingcat is a supposedly amateur run, supposedly independent, source of image analyses on controversial images. Its operator, Eliot Higgins has been praised by The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian. He was the subject of a BBC piece on 27 September 2018.[1] Robert Parry termed Bellingcat's analysis of satellite photos about Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 an "amateurish [and] anti-Russian... fraud".[2] Robin Ramsay noted in 2021 that: “Among [Bellingcat]'s current personnel we have a former British Army officer, a former employee of GCHQ, former members of the US Department of Defense, the US Secret Service, the US Army and the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.” [3] Another commentator claimed that Higgins has constantly been a source of dis/misinformation on Syria and Ukraine: "It's not so much ‘Bellingcat’ as ‘smell a rat’."[4]