Geospatial Journalism & Visual Investigations

Documentary practitioner whose work combines geospatial analysis with visual storytelling to examine state violence, migration, and human rights.

Current MS Geographic Information Systems
University at Albany, SUNY
Recognition Emmy Nomination
Peabody Nomination
Sigma Award
Webby Award
Scripps Howard Award
Gracie Award
Affiliations FRONTLINE/PBS
SITU Research
Human Rights Watch
Associated Press
Al Jazeera
Jon Nealon
Recent Publication
Are Your Investments Fueling For-Profit Immigrant Detention?
Inkstick · with Tyler McBrien · July 2026
Upcoming Talks
  • Sep 2Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference, London
  • Sep 8The Global Conference on Migration, Bratislava
Selected Work

Investigations & Documentary Projects

UNITAD
United Nations · Situ Research · 2022-2024

UNITAD War Crimes Investigation Series

A three-part investigative documentary series produced with SITU Research for the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD). The series reconstructs three mass atrocity events—the Kocho massacre targeting the Yazidi population, the Tikrit Air Academy massacre, and the Badoush Prison massacre outside Mosul—using satellite imagery analysis, 3D spatial reconstruction, survivor testimony integration, and open-source verification. Created specifically to support international criminal accountability, these investigations translate complex spatial and temporal evidence into courtroom-ready visual documentation while honoring the experiences of survivors and victims.

Crimes against the Yazidi Tikrit Air Academy Massacre Badoush Prison Massacre Situ MethodologyUN Presentation on Technology and Justice
The Trap
Watch
Human Rights Watch · 2020

The Trap

Investigation documenting the NYPD's deliberate trapping and assault of peaceful protesters in the Bronx on June 4, 2020. Spatial analysis of the police operation revealed systematic coordination rather than spontaneous crowd control, contributing to a subsequent New York Attorney General lawsuit and a record class action settlement for the victims.

Watch Video Read HRW Report CBS News Report Subsequent Lawsuit Class Action news story
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Interactives

A growing set of interactive instruments for investigation and analysis, published under the <verify> imprint and integrated into ongoing work.

Interactive Map

The Churn

An interactive map tracing migrants' journeys through the ICE detention system—215,783 transfer paths across facilities, 2022–2026. Filter the network, select a country, and trace individual routes stop by stop, built on FOIA data processed by the Deportation Data Project.

Working prototype
Research & Writing

Academic Work & Theoretical Frameworks

Methodology Paper

Beyond the God's Eye View: The Hot Air Balloon Perspective in Geospatial Journalism

Introduces and argues for a human-scale approach to spatial storytelling that maintains horizon lines and embodied perspective, challenging traditional overhead mapping through integration of cognitive science research and journalistic practice.

Under review, Digital Journalism
Presented @UCGIS Symposium 6/16/26
Theoretical Framework

The Body is the Unit: Migrant Commodification Through Deportation, Detention, and Transnational Carceral Exchange

Develops a theoretical framework for understanding 'migrant body commodification'—how state actors convert migrants into extractable political, economic, and diplomatic value through strategic spatial positioning.

Under review, Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space
Current Research

From Shades of Grey to Red and Blue (and Back Again)

How election maps became identity politics: examining the technological history and the psychological and democratic costs of journalism's "red state/blue state" framework.

In development
Production & Investigations

Professional Services

Documentary Production

Full-service documentary production with specialized expertise in visual investigations, spatial storytelling, and evidentiary documentation for broadcast and legal contexts.

Geospatial Investigations

End-to-end investigative support integrating satellite imagery analysis, open-source verification, and interactive mapping for human rights documentation and legal accountability.

Speaking & Lectures

Film screenings, guest lectures, and conference presentations on geospatial journalism methodology, visual investigations, media history, and the future of spatial storytelling.

I produce investigations that use geospatial analysis to document human rights violations and hold power accountable. My work bridges documentary filmmaking, spatial analysis, and legal evidence standards.

I spent twenty years as a documentary editor, shaping stories for broadcast and independent film. It is a craft I love, but increasingly I wanted my work to do more than reach audiences; I wanted it to matter in courtrooms, in policy debates, and in the lives of people affected by the events I was documenting.

That conviction led me to new partnerships, to investigations that could inform legal accountability, shape policy, and serve communities beyond the screen, and eventually back to graduate school to learn the geospatial technologies now central to investigative journalism. I'm completing my MS in GIS at the University at Albany, developing human-centered approaches to spatial storytelling that make complex evidence accessible while meeting standards for legal accountability.

Get in Touch

Let's Work Together

Available for documentary production, data analysis, academic collaborations, speaking opportunities, and investigative partnerships.

jnealon@gmail.com
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