‘Crossing into Mars’: A Conversation with Bellingcat’s Charlotte Maher

As far as versatility goes in journalism, few have been able to achieve as much as Charlotte Maher, current Social Media Editor at Bellingcat. I was privileged enough to catch up with her over the Easter holidays to discuss her journey from traditional media – with stints at The Evening Standard, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the BBC – to open-source giant Bellingcat, where she currently oversees all investigations as well as occasionally hosting the ‘Stage Talks’ podcast.

But what truly sets Charlotte apart goes beyond her world-class reporting: it’s her remarkable capacity to overcome and adapt to whatever situation is placed before her. Whether confronting impostor syndrome at university or losing her job at the BBC, she has consistently turned obstacles into opportunities, becoming a voice for working-class journalists in a landscape saturated with privilege and nepotism.

Her journey to becoming one of the nation’s leading social media editors, however, follows its own unexpected path.

Her talent for finding stories as well as listening to people is what enabled her to build her comprehensive skillset as a journalist

“I grew up in a low-income setting in the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t much going on and there wasn’t much money to travel, so you often had to find your own stories out of nothing. I got very used to chatting with people – people older than myself, people from different backgrounds – and I found I was very good at listening and getting people to unpack their thoughts with me.”

Her talent for finding stories as well as listening to people is what enabled her to build her comprehensive skillset as a journalist, eventually leading to her securing a role at her local newspaper at only 13 years old. Speaking on this experience, she said, “I started very early and was lucky to get that kind of opportunity. I was learning on the job straight away.”

Following a degree in English Literature at the University of Nottingham, Charlotte received a scholarship to do a master’s in Investigative Journalism at City University of London, an experience she described as “crossing into Mars”. This sense of alienation was made very clear during her first journalism networking event. Conversations about “skiing holidays” and “which college at Oxford or Cambridge people attended” highlighted the stark reality of the elitist nature of the profession – a contrast with her working-class, rural upbringing.

“There are methods to get into the industry without needing to know someone’s uncle or someone’s connections”

Charlotte Maher

“I came back from that networking event feeling like an impostor,” she recalls. “I was a scholarship student at City, and my scholarship was based on my low-income background. I already felt a bit guilty about that, particularly as many people from my background couldn’t move to London or get that opportunity.”

Rather than discourage her, however, this experience only strengthened her resolve to champion working-class voices in journalism. “I wanted to help those from these backgrounds understand they’re not alone,” she explains. “There are methods to get into the industry without needing to know someone’s uncle or someone’s connections.”

“I was living this dream life. It’s really hard to get into the BBC. There’s a running joke that you have to wait for someone to die before you can get promoted”

Charlotte Maher

Following a fellowship at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Charlotte achieved what many would see as every journalist’s dream: a job at the BBC. “My colleagues at the Bureau told me, ‘You can’t stay when the BBC has come calling – you need to take this opportunity.'”

The exclusive nature of the BBC was not lost on her. “I was living this dream life. It’s really hard to get into the BBC. There’s a running joke that you have to wait for someone to die before you can get promoted,” she muses. “It’s difficult, and I was really proud of myself for getting there.”

However, after only six months, the dream quickly faded as the first COVID lockdown led to her being let go. “The BBC started looking for cost-cutting measures and decided to cut a lot of the investigative budget, which meant my whole team at ‘Inside Out’ were axed.”

Finding herself unemployed after BBC cutbacks, Charlotte faced a period of uncertainty and financial strain. “I went a bit insane not knowing what to do,” she recalls with candid honesty. “I started doing freelance work with some people I’d met at the BBC who kindly gave me opportunities.” After a month of cobbling together scattered freelance assignments, an unexpected door opened – she came across a small startup founded by two South African journalists.

“Then I found Seen TV, which was called Hashtag Our Stories at the time,” she recalls. “It was a startup, and I applied because I needed work. When I joined, I was one of just three employees besides the co-founders – an incredibly small team.”

“It was a completely different approach to journalism – leading through citizen storytelling with mobile phones and augmented reality. I was learning new technologies and taking on completely different roles from what I’d been trained to do”

Charlotte Maher

This small team was led by an ambitious pair with diverse expertise: former CNN war correspondent Yusuf Omar and banking analyst Sumaiya Omar, who had founded the company in 2018. Their vision – to pioneer community-based journalism through augmented reality and mobile storytelling – initially seemed worlds away from Charlotte’s traditional newsroom experience, but would prove to be exactly the innovative environment she needed to reinvent her career.

“It was a completely different approach to journalism – leading through citizen storytelling with mobile phones and augmented reality. I was learning new technologies and taking on completely different roles from what I’d been trained to do.”

Charlotte spent three years at Seen TV, during which time the company expanded dramatically from its humble beginnings to a team of over 150 people. As she rose to a senior position within the organisation, she was developing precisely the multifaceted skill set that would make her an ideal candidate for her next role.

Founded by Eliot Higgins in 2014, Bellingcat revolutionised investigative reporting by crowdsourcing investigations and using publicly available information to expose everything from war crimes to disinformation campaigns

“[Without] the Seen TV job, I would never have gotten my position at Bellingcat,” she emphasises. “It was a really important stepping stone to understand all the different aspects of a newsroom and the different skill sets required to put together a story. That really helped me when I became an editor at Bellingcat.”

Charlotte’s new role at Bellingcat placed her at the heart of one of journalism’s most exciting organisations. Founded by Eliot Higgins in 2014, Bellingcat revolutionised investigative reporting by crowdsourcing investigations and using publicly available information to expose everything from war crimes to disinformation campaigns. For someone whose career was shaped by challenging traditional media structures, this seemed like the perfect fit for Charlotte.

Her role as Social Media Editor involved overseeing all investigations, managing non-print output across social platforms as well as running live events in Bellingcat’s Discord in the form of the ‘Stage Talks Podcast’.

“I really love the live element – I often don’t know exactly where the conversation will go. I come with questions, but it’s really fun to see what the community is passionate about and what they want to learn from that particular talk”

Charlotte Maher

“We had actually set up Discord prior to X existing, but in the last two years, we’ve really built up our Discord server. We now have 36,000 people there, and it’s basically a place to cultivate investigations. These aren’t necessarily investigations with Bellingcat – we have many other newsrooms working with our community members, and members working with each other.”

“It’s a live talk every few weeks where I or one of my colleagues speaks to somebody who is an expert in open-source research or topics related to what we investigate,” she explains. “We record these sessions and post them on our RSS feed, which distributes them to Spotify and Apple Podcasts.”

Speaking on this unique nature of distribution, she says: “I really love the live element – I often don’t know exactly where the conversation will go. I come with questions, but it’s really fun to see what the community is passionate about and what they want to learn from that particular talk.”

Anyone should be able to participate in meaningful discussion about important investigative topics.

Bellingcat

An example of one of these interesting conversations would be one with Alexa Koenig of the Virtual Human Rights Centre. “She was talking about the ethics of reporting on gender-based violence victims using open sources. Someone in the chat asked about differences when looking at trans cases in the US, which was an interesting side thread we hadn’t prepared for. It became a fascinating discussion with people bringing up case studies and approaches they had implemented.”

Conversations such as the one with Koenig demonstrated the need to switch from X to a more collaborative platform that reflected Bellingcat’s core ideals. The organisation’s belief that anyone should be able to participate in meaningful discussion about important investigative topics ultimately drove the decision to make this significant platform change.

Discord emerged as the perfect solution, providing the kind of interactive environment Bellingcat had been seeking. “It’s a space for people to flag potential investigations, work together, and look at ways to cover different issues around the world,” Charlotte explains.

“If you’re entering journalism at this stage and looking at a career in it, I really encourage you to focus on that community-building element”

Charlotte Maher

When asked whether she had any advice for aspiring journalists, Charlotte stressed the need for more collaboration rather than competitiveness. “Throughout my career, I’ve pursued organisations and people who disprove this element of competitiveness in journalism – the idea that you’re competing to get the scoop and outdo each other.”

She goes on to stress the importance of community building: “If you’re entering journalism at this stage and looking at a career in it, I really encourage you to focus on that community-building element. Think about how you can entrench yourself as a journalist within your society or beat. Network not only with other journalists but with key people in society who might become useful sources.”

As Charlotte continues to champion working-class voices and democratic approaches to journalism, she doesn’t just represent change – she embodies it. In a profession largely defined by who you know, Charlotte provides a refreshing perspective, proving that what truly matters in journalism is the stories you tell and the communities you build along the way.