Update: Please read the discussion of legal issues at the end of this post.
I was writing an email in a conference room between appointments at the Charleston Daily Mail when the newsroom erupted in commotion. Laughter, exclamations and a whirring sound. I stepped out to investigate. And I saw the maiden flight of the West Virginia Video Drone.
Retiring Editorial Page Editor Johanna Maurice wanted to leave her newsroom with something to remember her by. She says she’s not tech-savvy at all (not on Twitter), but she’s been watching as her colleagues have raced into the digital age. So she bought an app-controlled drone quadricopter, equipped with a video camera, to give to her colleagues.
It’s not the first Digital First newsroom to use a drone. I think that was the Macomb Daily last year in its coverage of Jimmy Hoffa dig. But it’s the first Digital First newsroom (that I know of) with its own drone. The staff had some fun testing it (see the Tout videos below).
The drone’s debut was perfectly timed for me, not just during my visit, but only a few hours after my Tout workshop. I was pleased to see staffers who had taken the workshop whip out their phones to capture the flight on video. (A few who hadn’t attended were shooting vertical videos, but I gently informed them that they needed to shoot with their cameras turned horizontally.
I know Matt Waite and his students at the University of Nebraska are studying drone applications in journalism. So I’ll be asking him to share some advice with (and inviting him to learn from) my Daily Mail colleagues. But I also think this is a great crowdsourcing opportunity. So I’m asking you:
- What would you do with a video drone in your newsroom?
- What kinds of stories would you use it on?
- How would you use it on breaking news coverage?
- How would you use it in sports coverage?
- What ethical issues would you discuss?
- How would you use it for community engagement?
- How would you promote it?
They gave us a drone! http://t.co/PVXElXTPj5
— Candace Nelson (@Candace07) July 25, 2013
More of this flying thing! http://t.co/cepguYWHcs
— Candace Nelson (@Candace07) July 25, 2013
.@DMCityCounty @dave_boucher & @zackharold test fly the @wvvideodrone. http://t.co/sSiCJjs0Hm
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) July 25, 2013
After my Tout workshop, @charleywest staffers Tout news drone’s debut (not all following shoot-horizontal advice) http://t.co/HDmVTJxpjc
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) July 25, 2013
We have a toy (weapon) in the newsroom. http://t.co/i0SniBhacH
— Karie Spaetzel (@kspaetz) July 25, 2013
More drone action in the newsroom. http://t.co/XuTiYN3wP8
— Karie Spaetzel (@kspaetz) July 25, 2013
Follow @WVVideoDrone to see all the videos from our newsroom drone.
— Zack Harold (@ZackHarold) July 25, 2013
I leave for 20 minutes & we get droned… RT @Candace07 They gave us a drone! http://t.co/8r3u9OpkRQ
— Jared Hunt (@jaredwv) July 25, 2013
As expected, some quick advice from Matt (but not the advice I was expecting):
@TrevorHughes @arhine @stevebuttry It’s illegal under FAA regulations for you to get paid to use it, no matter what you call it.
— Matt Waite (@mattwaite) July 25, 2013
@arhine@stevebuttry On that note: http://t.co/bPevxnKQVu
— Matt Waite (@mattwaite) July 25, 2013
Update: In the comments here, in more comments on Twitter and in some emails (which I’m seeking permission to use here), legal issues about drone use for journalism have been raised, primarily the FAA ban on use of drones for commercial purposes, including journalism.
I think the FAA ban is unconstitutional. It’s not a safety matter, or the FAA would also ban drone use for research and hobbies, two activities that are allowed by the FAA but not protected in the Constitution. The courts make lots of questionable decisions, so nothing is certain, but I simply can’t imagine a court upholding a ban on a use protected in the First Amendment if other uses are allowed.
However, being confident that you could win is way different from deciding that a drone’s benefit is worth your money and time to win that court battle.
Read more in the comments here or in the social media discussion, which I Storified. I’ll add the email comments when I get permission to use them.
It’s just another tool. And, like most tools, best used by those trained to use it.
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What fun. This would be great for live feeds of local surf competitions, especially ones where it’s tough to watch otherwise. Could former print-only publications give TV news a run for its money with traffic coverage? Also, aerial views of parks where there may or may not be marijuana grows… Plus tons of other opportunities.
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What would you do with a video drone in your newsroom?
You use it to cover stories where there are large in geography or where there are crowds, where that very challenge makes access an issue.
What kinds of stories would you use it on?
The obvious ones are festivals, parades, and the like. But you can also use it to cover news events, rallies, protests. You really get a sense of the crowd and the scene when you can do this. Also good for flying above bodies of water.
How would you use it on breaking news coverage?
Fires, the aforementioned protests and rallies, surveying damages of floods.
How would you use it in sports coverage?
Games games games. Crowd survey and canvasing.
What ethical issues would you discuss?
Can you fly over the police line? Are there privacy concerns (flying over people’s properties, etc).
How would you use it for community engagement?
Make your community part of your drone coverage. You can bring them in to suggest coverage, to discuss ethical issues. You can also have fun with it by making drone coverage contest and making it a non-sentient, virtual and community media lab member.
How would you promote it?
You announce the events that you know you are going to cover online and in print: “The news drone is going to be at such and such from x a.m. to y p.m. to cover the [event]. Join us!” etc.
* I suggest making a DFM-wide contest with suggestions from newsrooms on the aforementioned topics and selecting one or two with the best responses to try them out. The potential is there and the access issue is a news coverage gain that wasn’t possible before. Integration with Tout should be explore (this should be easy, just download video and upload clip to tout). But past cases and lessons from coverage should be studied. P&L should be considered as well as monetization (hence the Tout suggestion).
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We’ve had one of these at Newhouse for a few months. They have limited use but are a good way to get started. The learning curve for more expensive, next-gen devices like the Arducopter ( which we now have) is steep, but worth it because they can carry a payload like a digital SLR. Let me know if any of your papers want to use it for some higher quality footage.
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It would be great for showing unique perspectives on news stories, contests, etc. in areas where reporters could not go on foot. Or it could also be used for contests or musical concerts. I would ensure the signal could be transferred to large screens so that audience members could see the video too in real time..
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[…] noch lange nicht auf. Über die rechtlichen Implikationen von Drohnen im Journalismus schreibt auch Steve Buttry (mit interessanten Ergänzungen in den […]
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[…] kämpfen, noch lange nicht auf. Über die rechtlichen Implikationen von Drohnen im Journalismus schreibt auch Steve Buttry (mit interessanten Ergänzungen in den […]
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