DRONES IN JOURNALISMMissouri Drone Journalism

Program: Convergence Capstone Group

Robert Partyka, Jaime Cooke, Zach Garcia

What are drones?

Credit: Charles McCain, Creative Commons

-Drones are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, or “bots” as the class has come to call them)

-This technology is most popularly known for militaristic use

-Under this identity, UAVs conduct surveillance and are able to carry out long-distance aerial attacks without the added risk of placing soldiers in combat

-Domestic use of UAVs has been a controversial topic, due in large part to the reputation that militaristic use has given the technology

- especially as it relates to surveillance

TIME Magazine

The Program’s Drones

Credit: Sally French, Missouri Drone Journalism Program

-These are the types of drones the program has been working with

-The drones were assembled locally, thanks to a collaboration with the MU Division of Information and Prof. Matthew Dickinson

-Cheap to assemble when made from kit

-Most of the program’s work was produced on two quadcopters, while footage from one hexacopter was used in later stages of the semester

The Convergence Team

-We spent the semester creating an online presence for the program in the

form of a blog

-Some of the events we witnessed (and covered for the blog) along the course of the semester:

-A controlled prairie burn-An NBC Nightly News visit-Class sessions with Pakistani and Korean journalists-A Missouri House of Representatives hearing regarding a

UAV bill-Flight reporting at the Missouri/Mississippi Rivers

confluence and Cahokia Mounds in the greater St. Louis area -A group of students completely unfamiliar with flying

UAVs becoming skillful operators of the technology

The Conflict-The widely negative public perspectiveof UAV technology has led to 28 stateseither passing or currently consideringbills that limit or prohibit use-Currently, no direct legislation fromFederal Aviation Administration

-In general: lower than 400 feet and away from populated or privately-owned areas-Internationally, laws vary greatly

-Missouri: “Preserving Freedom fromUnwanted Surveillance Act”

- Passed by House (House Bill No. 46)

- Currently under Senate review

Missouri House Rep. Casey Guernsey was the driving force behind House Bill No. 46

Photo by Jaime Cooke

-How it all affected us:-We needed to stay current on the fast-moving laws, as a precursor for what

might happen in Mo.-We had to exercise caution in blog production, because we were constantly

being monitored…

Research

Researching the Nebraska program: similarities and differences

Drone laws in the US vs. other countries The perception of drones in the media Missouri drone laws

Media Coverage

-Media coverage played a large role in the Missouri Drone Journalism Program education- First press was from KCTV5, a Kansas City

based CBS affiliate.- First print coverage was from Fast Company

- Didn’t conduct interviews, simply quoted our blog

- Opened the door for coverage from other sources

- Students learned from the way the media covered us

Media Coverage

-NBC Nightly News was our first National TV coverage- Talked more about drone use in journalism

-ABCnews.com and VICE featured Jaime’s video

-KBIA published the three stories- Some content was also shared by partner

publication Harvest Public Media

Media Coverage

-Most media coverage was non-confrontational- Fears of getting “slammed” in press

coverage

-Most press organizations “got it”- Reported fairly and didn’t present the

program in a negative light - News outlets interested in using the

technology themselves someday

Blogging/Website

-Maintaining and running a website was key to the program’s success.- Introduced viewers to the program and its key

players, a forum for people to turn to

-”Contact Us” page was added after misattribution in the media

-Transparency was also an aim of the website

Blogging/Website

-Statistics and Viewership - As of yesterday, the site had around 4,500

views- Most of this traffic from search engines- 50% U.S. based traffic

- Most popular pages are about the drones themselves, not content

- Video on Cade Cleavelin has over 600 views

Video on the Program

• Integrating ourselves with the class

• Filming class activities, Jeff City hearing, outings, interviews, grant video

• Shooting during class, class visitors

• Conducting “debriefing” interviews

• Assisting class with multimedia editing, content gathering

• Learning as we go

• Filming during media coverage, NBC

Video 1

https://vimeo.com/61748786 First video: Cade Cleavelin Trial video, no set pre-production plan Picked up by other media outlets (yikes!) Interviewed Cade after the fact Remained a 3rd party during shooting Documentary style Drone footage not so great

Video 2: Better

https://vimeo.com/63522238 In field: assisted class, gave footage to class Similar style to Cade video, but overall

better Focus more on what student learned Interviewed Brendan after the fact Improved: had a focus beforehand, fleshed

out story as I was in the field, prepared Drone footage was better quality

Other Video Work

Video used for pulling still images: Jeff City, Big Muddy Wildlife Refuge, Eagle Bluffs

Filmed NBC crew visit: what they think of drones in journalism

Filmed classroom visits: Pakistani Journalists

Interviewed them, filmed during class

Currently putting together a final video to give to the grant provider –straight interviews with Bill and Scott

Video Teaching Points

Media visits: watching other crews cover the class the way we did each day

Filming during Jeff City hearing- standing my ground

In the field: be prepared, take risks, help each other

Interviewing journalists: tweek questions, ask them to tell a story

Stay one step ahead of class

Favorites

Learning new technology: gopro, beachtech, drone, time lapse

Field Reporting: we had to go where they went

Freedom: no tripod! High Energy: pioneer program Team Spirit: small group reporting, one

mission