Drones give journalists a new way to report news:

Technology allows journalists to tell stories in ways they've never done before.

The use of drones by journalists is taking off, as more news organizations realize the value of an alternative data-gathering tool. But adoption is slow as reporters learn to navigate the regulatory complexities associated with the practice. Matt Waite, a professor in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, first recognized the potential and value of drones while at a digital mapping conference several years ago. There, he came across a company that was building an aircraft with a camera on the bottom and a computer on board that was shooting pictures on the ground. "I thought, ‘Wow, we could do mapping of hurricane damage on the spot, or in a matter of hours,' " recalls Waite. But the aircrafts costs $65,000 each and are illegal in the United States. There was no way to manually fly it as it was all automated. "I was disappointed but I went back to my new faculty office and saw the FAA was looking to change regulations about UAVs," he said. "I went to my deal and told him I thought we should start a drone lab and get out ahead of this because I knew there would be a lot of ethical and legal issues involved in this that was beyond a lot of journalism. "So in November 2011, the university's drone lab was born. After receiving some grant funding in 2012, the school did its first story partnering with another lab on campus covering the area's worst drought since the Depression by flying over a dry river bed with a drone.

Eight months later, the school received a cease and desist letter from the FAA. After at least a year of going back and forth with the agency, it was determined that drones could be flown but only by a licensed manned aircraft pilot, and only in designated areas. So Waite became a licensed pilot. The process made him realize that the greatest impediment to journalists using drones all along had been regulatory. So to help others navigate the complicated process, Waite teamed up with Al Tompkins, the Poynter Institute's senior faculty for broadcasting and online to hold the first Drone Boot Camp, or drone journalism school, last summer.. 62 journalists attended with the intention of learning how to take an aeronautical knowledge test. Rules had changed so that one no longer had to be a licensed pilot to fly a drone. "One reason we wanted to conduct these workshops is because we were seeing one-day training workshops that are too expensive for journalists. We want to put this knowledge within reach of every newsroom regardless of size," said Tompkins. "Plus, journalists have unique training needs that are different from others who want to use drones in their work. Journalists will need specialized training around privacy concerns that drones raise in some people's minds."

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