Gianluca Mezzofiore

Editor, Open-source Intelligence (OSINT)

Gianluca Mezzofiore is the award-winning Editor of the open-source intelligence (OSINT) team based at CNN's London bureau.
5/23/18 CNN London Gianluca Mezzofiore

About

Gianluca Mezzofiore is the award-winning Editor of the open-source intelligence (OSINT) team based at CNN’s London bureau.

In this role, Mezzofiore is in charge of directing CNN’s OSINT and visual investigations efforts all around the world.

Prior to this, he worked as an investigative producer. He extensively covered the conflict in Ethiopia as part of CNN Chief International Investigative Correspondent Nima Elbagir’s team, publishing exclusive reports on the Dengelat massacre in Tigray, the use of rape as a weapon of war, and a highly-developed open-source investigation on a video showing Ethiopian troops committing a massacre. The investigative series on Ethiopia’s Tigray region won an Emmy for outstanding research in 2022.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, Mezzofiore has published a series of OSINT-led investigations while leading a fast-paced team of open-source researchers at CNN. During this time, he published a visually compelling report on the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, which won a Webby Award in 2023, a deep dive into forced deportations to Russia, and a piece on Kharkiv’s civilian targets.

Last year, he was also part of an investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces in the West Bank.

Mezzofiore also published an investigation into the Lekki toll gate massacre in Nigeria, which won the award for Best Use of Crowd Sourcing or Citizen Journalism at The Drum Online Media Awards 2021. His work on the investigation into Russian troll farms in Ghana was a finalist for the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award.

Mezzofiore began his CNN career as a social discovery producer, covering significant events such as the mass shootings in Parkland and El Paso, the Notre Dame Cathedral fire and the climate crisis.

He then became an Investigative Researcher, filing exploratory pieces on the coronavirus pandemic and was part of CNN’s investigation into Russian troll farms in Ghana.

Mezzofiore has also contributed significantly to CNN’s As Equals series on gender inequality.

Before joining CNN, Mezzofiore worked as a reporter at Mashable UK, Mail Online and IBTimes UK.

Mezzofiore is fluent in Italian and English. He holds a Master’s degree in International Journalism from City, University of London and a Bachelor’s degree and Postgraduate diploma in Modern Literature from the University of Bologna.