Drone Journalism: What Is All the Fuss about?

By Jessica Herzog

Drones are the current topic of discussion in journalism, because they are considered a tool that
journalists use to gather a birds-eye video of crowds at events; something that reporters cannot
always accomplish. However, the use of drones is a controversial subject, due to the safety
precautions that it has the ability to violate.

Ethics, state and city laws, and FAA regulations are the issues that surround the use of drones.
Several states and cities have passed drone laws, with the intention of preventing unjustified
surveillance. The FAA expressed its thoughts regarding drones by declaring that the issue lies
more in where we decide use a drone, rather than what we decide to do with it. Professor Kelly
Furnas elaborated on the importance of the location of drones and stated, They are an invasion
of privacy, and the we are unsure of the property line with drone use.

After learning the FAA will allow the operation of commercial drones by 2015, students at the
University of Nebraska decided to build them from scratch. The goal of this creation was to
document the use of equipment to operate drones, observe the kind of training that is needed to
fly them, and lastly, examine the ethics of drone journalism. However, a certain bill is
threatening the drone program, which says that nobody or nothing is allowed to use a drone to
conduct surveillance of any individual or property without consent.

Lawmakers are overreacting to critics fear of drones, says founder of the Professional Society
of Drone Journalists, Matthew Schroyer. He says that the invasion of privacy should only be a

concern if put in the wrong hands, which is reason the Code of Ethics was created. Journalists
and photographers are the ones who are operating these drones, so they should be trained to do
so safely while following regulations.

According to Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the future of drone journalism
includes environmental, agricultural, and meteorological research. Drones have the ability of
mapping and collecting important data, which is what makes them a powerful device for
journalists. The right to fly drones is still sparking controversy, considering the FAA is currently
showing delayed reactions for permission to use them. Nevertheless, from here on out,
journalists can only hope that their pleas are accepted, and that they will be granted complete
access to drones.