A blog devoted to on-the-ground reporting around the world.

This blog is all about “ground truth.” The observations, analysis, notes and musings posted here are based on facts gathered in the field from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. We highlight the work of GlobalPost’s team of correspondents and other journalists, bloggers, photographers and videographers around the globe who are out there getting at the “ground truth.”
The term is actually a scientific concept defined by NASA as part of the calibration process of satellite imagery. When NASA measures something with a satellite, an employee on the ground takes the same measurement. That human measurement is known as “ground truth.” If the results differ, the “ground truth” has greater credibility than the satellite does.
In the digital age, as we are bombarded with so much information from afar, GlobalPost takes a similar approach in its journalism, valuing the idea that being there on the ground and calibrating events in human terms is the key to getting it right. We believe in “ground truth.” And this blog is dedicated to that belief.