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02/16/2018

Drones open the door to new opportunities for journalists

Photo (from left to right): Carrie Cochran, Sam Greene, and Doug Daniels

By Lauren Fisher, Ohio University

Drone panelFrom the moment Doug Daniels first began working with drones in 2015, he was hooked.

“I never throught at 61 years old I’d be doing this,” Daniels said. “This is like my second childhood.”

Daniels, a senior law enforcement training officer, owns nine drones and serves as a drone expert for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

Although Daniels primarily works with drones within the context of law enforcement, he also sees drones as a potential game-changer for photojournalists. Not only do drones provide a cheaper alternative to helicopters, they allow reporters to reach areas that were once inaccessible and capture footage.

“I think you are on the cutting edge of something that’s going to be really, really great.” Daniels said.

Journalists looking to incorporate drones into their reporting, however, may encounter a host of roadblocks along the way. Rules regarding altitude, speed and visibility — not to mention restrictions on flying over civilians — are all carefully regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

And unlike casual hobbyists, journalists operate as commercial enterprises, meaning they must obtain a 107 remote pilot license from the FAA before lifting off.

Carrie Cochran and Sam Greene of The Cincinnati Enquirer acquired their licenses to work under the USA Today Network’s beta drone program. Since obtaining her license, Cochran has travelled to Puerto Rico, where she used drones to document footage of devastation following Hurricane Maria.

Despite the high winds, Cochran said the drones were able to go where helicopters couldn’t, providing the USA Today network with footage that was “just incredible.”

“This is technology that, for you as a journalist, will open up doors to things you’ve never seen,” Daniels said. “This is the way it’s going to go.”

Since incorporating drones into their reporting practices, Cochran said The Enquirer has reached out to Cincinnati law enforcement as well as other local media outlets, helping all of them come together and mitigate potentially “adversarial relationships.”

“Drone pilots just wanted to nerd out with other drone pilots.” Cochran said.

Obtaining a license to pilot a commercial drone requires passage of the Part 107 exam, which Cochran said requires at least 30 hours of studying. Cochran and Greene then spent four days on a farm at Virginia Tech for hands-on training with a former military pilot.

Although they’ve prepared to jump into action, the team at The Enquirer has yet to use a drone for breaking news situations. They have, however, used the technology to produce an array of visual stories.

“It is certainly not what we expected,” Cochran said. “As a photojournalist, you try to be a fly on the wall. This is anything but that.”

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