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Journalism Drones

First-ever drone journalism bootcamp trains South African reporters

Picture
When and how can drones be used to improve storytelling? What are the rules that apply in different jurisdictions?

A group of South African journalists and civil rights organizations tackled these and other questions recently at the country’s first drone camp, a three-day, hands-on event in Cape Town organized by ICFJ Knight Fellow Chris Roper. The 30 participants included journalists from 12 of South Africa’s leading media outlets, and for most, it was their first time flying the unmanned aircraft.

“Drone journalism, like any new practice in journalism, is important because it forms a part of the evolution of our industry,” said Siyabonga Africa, digital media specialist at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), who took part in the camp. “From the way we can immerse audiences in our stories to showing new angles in pieces, drone journalism has provided a new lens with which we can see the world and report on it.”

Roper, who says the journalists are eager to start working with drones, talked to IJNet about exciting prospects as well as the regulatory challenges they face.

IJNet: What were your goals for drone camp? What motivated you to hold the event?

Roper: The idea for drone camp was to teach the journalists to build and fly drones and then to allow them to decide what form of journalism was appropriate to the stories they wanted to do and the audiences they wanted to serve. We gave them a taste for the amazing things you could do with drones in terms of journalism, and provided loads of case studies and talks from people who had produced those projects.

Newsrooms in South Africa are running out of resources to do big investigative pieces that involve either sensor journalism or mapping journalism. It’s quite difficult to get them to evolve in their use of innovative technology products and projects, so we wanted to kickstart that. What’s happened in my last 20 years of trying to get newsrooms to adopt digital technology and digital media strategies is that they’ve often come to the party too late, to find that their revenue base (not to mention their readership!) has been eroded by technology companies like Facebook. I want them to play a role in determining what drone journalism actually is, rather than leave it to non-journalists who happen to be early adopters.

What kinds of stories do you envision reporters in South Africa being able to produce with drones?

There’s a project called “Unequal Scenes,” by Johnny Miller, which is basically drone journalism around the divide between poorer and richer areas in South Africa. … We want to enable newsrooms to be able to tell those kind of stories where the visual actually tells the story, and then the reporting is done around that.

We already have 15 story proposals from newsrooms who want to work with us, on projects ranging from tracking mine dump radiation, to using drones and software to be able to estimate crowds at protests. South Africa has recently had a big round of protests where journalists were basically abused … and kicked out of areas so, as you can imagine, it’s very difficult to estimate crowds and attendance at these kinds of protest marches.

What challenges do South African reporters who are interested in working with drones face?

It’s very, very difficult to get a commercial drone license in South Africa. Currently, I think only seven people have one. About 120 people have applied for licenses and the South African Civil Aviation Authority is issuing licenses very slowly.

Someone told me the rate was something ludicrous like one license per month, which means that you'll never get enough people with licenses unless something changes. It’s also quite expensive. It costs about US$7,000 to US$8,000 (or ZAR100,000 to ZAR120,000) to get set up so as to get a license. Excluding hardware costs!

Part of the aim of this drone camp was to try and mobilize all the newspapers and the news teams to start lobbying for a change to these laws. I invited them all and gave them free drones, and a taste of the potential of drone journalism, so that they would get invested and go back and fight to try and get some drone licensing rules changed. Or at least come up with some creative workarounds.

Do you plan to hold a follow-up drone camp?

If so, how do you see the program evolving in the future?

​Interest in this drone camp was so high that so we’re going to do a second one in Johannesburg in September. We learned quite a lot about how to do it better. … I want to find more local African speakers for starters. We did have the best, the guys who’ve really pioneered drone journalism, talking, but one of the most well-received speakers was Dickens Olewe from Kenya. He had a slightly different way of looking at potential and possibilities than the guys who were selling the dreams from San Francisco and the U.K.

I would also have more flying time throughout the three days, because it’s fun to fly these things around and crash them. It’s just amazingly cool, in that tech geek kind of way, especially if it’s your first time flying one.

  • Home
  • Drones
    • TUSEXPO
    • World Drone Manufacturers
    • Autonomous Marine
    • Xenosky
    • Drone Racing >
      • Formula FPV Racing
    • Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
    • Manned Electronic Multirotor
    • Quadcopters
    • Drone Use
    • Drone Education >
      • FAA 107
      • Drones in Smart Cities
    • Know before you fly
    • Drone Jobs
    • Drone Investments
    • Drone Growth
  • Drone Services
    • Emergency Drone Services >
      • Drones for Disaster Response
  • Drone News
    • Commercial Drones FM
    • Search and Rescue Drones
    • Fireproof Drones
    • Astral-AR-DroneMedia
    • Drone Volt
    • Robotic Investment
    • Ehang 184
    • Flyability
    • If Found Please Return
    • GoPro Drone
    • Prodrone
    • UAVS Spreading Like Wildfire
    • Drones and Smart Construction
    • Unmanned Air Systems Technology
    • T Mobile Drone Technology
    • Redbird
    • Dr Paul Scholefield
    • Rise of the Drones
    • UAV Archaeology
    • Drones Wildlife
    • Singular Aircraft Press Release
    • Tekever >
      • Tekever AR5
    • The Qualcomm Snapdragon 2015 CES
    • Exemptions for Commercial UAS Movie and TV Production
    • ABC Drone News
    • Fox Drone News
    • CBS Drone News
    • NBC Drone News
    • Bloomberg Drone News
    • CNN Drone News
    • Huffington Post Drone News
    • Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology
    • Emergency Drones
    • Micro Drones
    • Micro Sensors
    • Micro Motion Technology
    • V22 Osprey - Birth of the Drone
  • Drone World
    • Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
    • Drone Tour of Hearst Tower
    • Best Drone Videos of 2014 in 60 seconds
    • Drone used in James Bond movie SKYFALL
  • Contact
    • Sign-up >
      • Drone Forum >
        • Drones are everywhere
        • Drone Use and Applications
        • Top 10 Funded Drone Companies
        • Drone Strategic Partnership or Funding
      • Drone Media Newsletter
      • Possible Drone Crash with Airplane
  • What Drones Can Do Besides Killing Terrorists
  • DJI Media
  • Heliguy
  • Stormchasers
  • I can remember
  • Drone Crashes
  • Drone Dynamics
  • Autonomous Avionics
  • Sony Drone
  • Intel invests in drone manufacturer Yuneec
  • Autonomous Avionics
  • Drone Valley Project
  • Albania Drone Media
  • DJI
  • Dronellites to be used for disaster relief
  • quadrocopter racing
  • Drone Pole
  • Drone Media Portfolio
  • drone media logo
  • VASHON1
  • Vashon2
  • Drone Aerial
  • Drone Aerial Images
  • Drone Aerial Media
  • Drone Aerial Media Network
  • Drone Aerial Photos
  • Drone Aerial Shots
  • Drone Air Traffic Control
  • Drone Air Traffic Control System
  • Drone ATCS Air Traffic Control System
  • Drone Crashes
  • Drone Sensory
  • Drone Motion Pics
  • Drone News Media
  • Drone Quadcopter
  • Drone Octocopter
  • Drone Octocopters
  • Hexocopters
  • Drone Replacement Parts
  • Drone Traffic Control System
  • Drone Thermal Imaging
  • Media UAS
  • Multi Rotor Drone
  • Emergency Drones
  • Hexacopter Drones
  • Quadcopter Life
  • Pentacopters
  • Autonomous Hybrid
  • Dronestagrams
  • Campus Drones
  • Drone Media TV
  • Drone Repair Company
  • Drone Repair Business
  • Drone Sim Card
  • Balloon Drones
  • Atmospheric Drone
  • Biometric Drone
  • Autonomous Navy
  • Autonomous Army
  • Autonomous Air Force
  • Autonomous Drone Port
  • Autonomous Travel
  • Drone UAS
  • UAS Transponder
  • Drone FPV Racer
  • Drone Led Lights
  • Drone Media Marketing
  • Telecommunication Drone
  • Unmanned Aviation Services
  • 4G Drones
  • Super Sonic Drone
  • UAV Utilities
  • Collision Avoidance Drone
  • Unmanned Traffic Management
  • Emergancy UAV
  • Autonomous Aerial Vehicles
  • Autonomous Flying Vehicle
  • Unmanned Vehicle System
  • Drone Scans
  • Stratospheric Drone
  • Quadcopter Vehicle
  • Drone Air Deliveries
  • Drone Flight Operations
  • Unmanned Airship
  • Drone Central Command
  • Drone Usage
  • Drone Tethering
  • Micro Quads
  • Acrobatic Quadcopters
  • Drone Rotorcraft
  • Micro Quad Parts
  • Drone Approvals
  • Fly B4U Buy
  • Intercom Drone
  • Drone Manufacturing
  • Drone Poles
  • Aerial Zoom Camera
  • Drone Remedies
  • Easy Drone Repair
  • Unmanned System Technologies
  • UAS Aerial Media
  • AR Quadcopter
  • Hydrogen Fuel Drone
  • Hydrogen Fuel Cell Drone
  • UAV Aerial Media
  • Cargo Ship Drones
  • Drone Cargo Ship
  • Drone Container Ship
  • Drone Intercom
  • Drone Aerocopter
  • 3D Drone Scan
  • Drone Parcel Deliveries
  • Nano Drone Technology
  • Drone Towers
  • Drone Navy
  • Drone Scanning
  • FPV Micro Quadcopter
  • Drone Flyaways
  • Drone Lanes
  • Drone Metrics
  • Drone Submarines
  • FPV Quadcopter Races
  • First Person Drone Racing
  • Drone Botix
  • FPV Mini Drones
  • Mini FPV Quadcopters
  • Nano FPV Quadcopters
  • Autonomous Aircraft
  • Autonomous Air Vehicle
  • Autonomous Air Vehicles
  • ADS B Drone
  • Dronellite
  • Drone Detection Systems
  • Autonomous Marine
  • Autonomous Quadcopters
  • Commercial Drone Services
  • Professional Quadcopter
  • Drone Deterrents
  • Journalism Drones
  • Drone Traffic Management
  • Autonomous Robotic Systems
  • Autonomous GPS
  • Unmanned Aero Vehicle
  • Autonomous Driving Technology
  • Autonomous Driving System
  • Autonomous Drone Ship
  • Autonomous Unmanned Systems
  • Quadrocopter Drone
  • Drone Special Projects
  • Drone Special Operations
  • Drone Protocol
  • Drone Tweet
  • Unmanned Aircraft Operators
  • Unmanned Autonomous Systems
  • Drone Hardcase
  • Drone Deployments
  • VR Heads Up Display
  • Nano Quadrocopter
  • Paramedic Drones
  • Emergency Drones
  • Emergency UAVS
  • Mini Quadrocopters
  • Disaster Relief Drones
  • Micro Quadrocopter
  • Surveillance UAVS
  • Drone Responsibility for News Media Gathering
  • Shenzhen Quadcopters
  • FPV Quadcopter Flying
  • Autonomous Detection
  • Regenerative UAS
  • Autonomous Drone Port
  • Regenerative UAV
  • Regeneratie Drones
  • Unmanned Air Systems
  • Autonomous Quadcopters
  • UAV Air Patrol
  • UAS Air Patrol
  • FPV Quadrotor
  • Quadrotor FPV
  • Emergency Rescue Drones
  • Autonomous Swarming
  • Zika Beach
  • Folding Drones
  • AUVSC SHOW SHENZHEN CHINA
  • Airbox Technology
  • China Airshow
  • Drone Global Media Network
  • Drone Air Traffic Control
  • Shenzhen Portfolio
  • Drone Media Premier
  • US Army UAS
  • Drones Oman
  • Kespry Drones
  • Hybrid Propulsion System
  • Dubai 2020
  • Environmental Drones
  • IDEX UAE
  • Assets
  • International Marketing Director for the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems of China
  • Marketing
  • Carangi Airships
  • Drone Flies into Air Ambulance
  • Passenger Drone Service
  • Collision Avoidance Technologies
  • Autonomous Navy
  • Predictive Tracking
  • USA Drone Company
  • Autonomous Aerial Vehicle
  • Land Rover Project HERO
  • China Unmanned Systems Expo 2017
  • Taylor VS Huerta
  • First Responder Network Authority
  • Counter Autonomy
  • Drone Hives
  • Jessica Cox
  • Commercial Drone Integration
  • SUSB EXPO
  • Lilium Jet
  • Interpol World 2017
  • Autonomous Flights
  • NASA DRONES
  • Safe and Autonomous Drones
  • Personal Air Mobility Vehicles
  • VALKYRIE AEROSPACE
  • Treescape
  • JDI FANTOM
  • New Page
  • The Spirit of Aviation
  • EMALS
  • 4 Sedgebank Road
  • DJI Patents
  • DJI Roger LUO
  • China UAV Report
  • DJI is reactive not proactive
  • Commercial drones in the UAE
  • President Street Project
  • Causton Bluff Home For Sale
  • Shenzhen China - 2018 UAV EXPO
  • 2018 Amsterdam
  • CCROV