![]() Collect data in an automatically updating spreadsheet. Finally, click on the source link to open up the photo or video in a separate browser tab and download it with a simple right click.Then, hover over the highlighted links to find the source link preceded by “src=”. The Web Inspector will automatically identify all instances in which “” appears in the source code.Right click on the photo or video you want to download and choose “Inspect.” Perform a page search (control or command + F) looking for “” tags, which will bracket the video’s source code.One key advantage is the ability to retrieve original files, even from websites such as Instagram, which otherwise prevent you from saving the photos or videos they host. “Getting ahold of hard-to-get files is one great way to use the Web Inspector,” according to Sunne. Save images and videos from any website (even Instagram). You can refer to an HTML reference guide to find the code identifying embedded photos (), as well as links (), and other elements. You’ll also be able to read alt text - used to describe the function or content of an image or element on a page - and captions of images, which could include the names of people shown, the location it was taken, and more. With this, you’ll be able to find any hyperlinks and the source of any other materials embedded on the web page. In Safari, for example, you can right click on the area of a page you want to inspect and select “Inspect Element.” In her tutorial, Sunne detailed the ways the inspection tool appears on different browsers. “Browsers are reading the ‘source code’ – the code that makes up the webpage – and displaying it to the user,” explained Sunne. “Inspect” a website’s source code to extract links, photos, and embedded content.Įvery browser offers a version of the Web Inspector in its Developer Tools or Develop tab. Here are five ways you can use these tools to extract and analyze data from any web page: 1. Many reporters never notice the “inspect element” option below the “copy” and save-as” functions in the right-click menu on any webpage related to their investigation.īut it turns out that this little-used web inspector tool can dig up a wealth of hidden information from a site’s source code, reveal the raw data behind graphics, and download images and videos that supposedly cannot be saved.Ī simple understanding of this tool and HTML basics can also help reporters scrape data from any web page, with no background in computer science needed.Īt IRE21, the Investigative Reporters & Editors’ annual conference, journalist and educator Samantha Sunne shared tips for journalists with little to no coding experience on how to retrieve and analyze data from any web page using two simple tools: the Web Inspector and Google Sheets.
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