Drones in news reporting

(The Boston Globe, November 25, 2013)

Drones, or unstaffed aerial systems, as many of their handlers prefer to call them, were largely developed for, and remain associated with, the military. But they are increasingly being used for civilian purposes. For example to film the destruction wrought by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, says Lewis Whyld, a British photographer who builds his own drones. The Associated Press and News Corp. have used them to show the scale of large disasters. Sophisticated nature documentaries use them to get intimate shots of wildlife. News Corp. uses drones to film sporting events in Australia. Paparazzi use them to chase celebrities in Europe. Now journalism programs, including those at the University of Missouri, the University of Nebraska, and Columbia University, have started drone journalism courses.