Inspired by @KanekoaTheGreat's tools thread, I wanted to assemble my own list of top tools I use for investigative or media clipping purposes. I hope this serves helpful to other potential citizen journalists or anyone with a similar interest.
twitter.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1654536521847050240
CleanShotX (ᴍᴀᴄ | ᴘʀᴇɪᴍɪᴜᴍ)
This app is my most-used software, surpassing macOS' native screenshot tool with superior editing features and auto-transcription of screenshot text. See GIF below
cleanshot.com/
Otter Transcriber (ᴡᴇʙᴀᴘᴘ | ꜰʀᴇᴇᴍɪᴜᴍ)
Top-notch transcription service, super fast, and excellent quality. What I love most is its smart feature: once you tag a name to a voice, it'll remember that for all future transcriptions.
otter.ai
Downie (ᴍᴀᴄ | ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴛʀɪᴀʟ)
My favorite video/image downloader, I easily use this app every day, side-by-side with Otter (above). In addition to "off-the-shelf" features, it's highly customizable per site (if not already configured by default).
software.charliemonroe.net/downie/
Affinity Suite 2 (ᴡɪɴᴅᴏᴡs/ᴍᴀᴄ | ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴛʀɪᴀʟ)
I use various media tools, but as a default, I often refer to Affinity's editing suite—a diverse set of tools for simple editing to graphic design.
affinity.serif.com/en-us/
Coolers (ᴡᴇʙᴀᴘᴘ | ꜰʀᴇᴇᴍɪᴜᴍ)
I love data visualization—which naturally includes the colors used within these visuals. When I'm not lazy, I refer to Coolers when pinpointing color needs for more effective visual creation.
coolors.co/
Midjourney (ᴡᴇʙᴀᴘᴘ | ꜰʀᴇᴇᴍɪᴜᴍ)
As one of the more popular AI image generators, I've started using this tool to create unique covers for my Substack articles or Twitter threads—a powerful and straightforward tool through the Discord app.
midjourney.com/
ChatGPT (ᴡᴇʙᴀᴘᴘ | ꜰʀᴇᴇᴍɪᴜᴍ)
My use of ChatGPT lies within information extraction. Previously, I built my own algorithm to summarize articles—now, using ChatGPT, I summarize overlapping information from top articles on similar topics.
chat.openai.com/
Python in Jupyter (ᴡɪɴᴅᴏᴡs/ᴍᴀᴄ | ꜰʀᴇᴇ)
When diving into big data needs, my default tool is Python code using a simple environment called Jupyter Notebook. It's free, fast, open-source, and well-supported by the Python community.
jupyter.org/
Evernote (ᴡɪɴᴅᴏᴡs/ᴍᴀᴄ | ꜰʀᴇᴇᴍɪᴜᴍ)
I've often used hopped from one note-taking app to another, and Evernote seems to be the one I often return to as I've enjoyed its UI design and note-organizing features the most.
evernote.com/
I'm always testing out new tools for the purpose of efficiently providing useful news clips, data-driven research, effective visuals, and other useful content. If you have recommendations or suggestions, please let us know in the thread.
malo aupito 🙏🏽 🤙🏽