OSINT is solidly groomed, funded and even set up by the intelligence agencies, out of fear of it arising for real and being independent.
They remember Wikileaks, even if they're trying to make us forget. An "intelligence agency for the people" is their greatest fear.
It started with the blog Brown Moses. A Something Awful goon who had taken as hobby watching videos out of Syria since one of his forum buddies had decided to drop everything and become a millitant. He was pretty good, he noticed and documented a lot of things the intelligence agencies hadn't. They were scared by that, but very relieved he'd focused on that conflict. So they flattered and groomed him, and paid him, and got him to start a small media outfit (bellingcat), and got their own people into it.