Drones

Sinclair’s Little Rock, Ark. ABC affiliate KATV says it’s the first station in Arkansas to use a drone for news coverage. The drone, named SKY 7, is a DJI Inspire 1 Pro quadcopter piloted by Brian Emfinger and Barry Deere from KATV. The drone has a Zenmuse X5 gimbal and HD zoom camera that can broadcast live.

With funding from The Knight Foundation, Matt Waite, a professor at the University of Nebraska, and Ben Kreimer, a beta fellow with BuzzFeed’s Open Lab for Journalism, Technology and the Arts, have put together the Drone Journalism Lab Operations Manual, a 23-page explainer on everything drone.

The FAA’s new commercial drone rules look pretty daunting. CNET walks you through the process.

The FAA’s new rules governing the operation of small commercial drones that went into effect today were designed to protect safety without stifling innovation, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told a news conference. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said people are “captivated by the limitless possibilities unmanned aircraft offer.” 

The greatly anticipated commercial drone regulations are effective next Monday, Aug.29. A new category of airman, “remote pilot,” can fly drones weighing less than 55 pounds. No longer do commercial operators need to recruit airplane or helicopter pilots to fly drones. Reporters, photogs, and producers can become remote pilots after some aviation knowledge study and completion of a written test at an approved testing site.

Following 15 months of testing, CNN today announced it is launching CNN Aerial Imagery and Reporting, or CNN AIR for short. The CNN AIR team will be made up of several drones, or unmanned aerial systems (UAS), along with two full-time UAS operators. The drones will be used for all CNN platforms as well as other Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner entities.

As TV stations consider how to take advantage of the FAA’s new small drone rule, they generally assume that stations will fly individual drones to collect news. But TV studios and movie sets have multiple cameras. Why shouldn’t remote news sites have multiple drones?

Sinclair was the only broadcaster to be invited to the White House workshop, “Drones and the Future of Aviation.” The station group will promote drone safety through the “Know Before You Fly” campaign by broadcasting public service announcements on its stations.

New FAA rules for drones were recently approved, and they may provide more opportunities for broadcasters to get in the game. The new rules are in many cases more permissive than the existing regulatory framework, but some potential pitfalls remain.

Matt Waite, founder of the Drone Journalism Lab at the University of Nebraska, on yesterday’s release of drone regulations by the FAA: “There are still challenges, and we haven’t even talked about state and local laws that have been piling up while the FAA lumbered toward today. But the future of drones in journalism is much brighter today than it has ever been.”

The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to announce as early as today the creation of a new category of rules for drones weighing less than 55 pounds. The long-anticipated rules would mean drone operators would be able to fly without special permission. Currently, they have to apply for a waiver from rules that govern manned aircraft, a process that can be time-consuming and expensive.

Whether it’s virtual or hybrid sets, Ka-band satellite contribution or tools to make story-centric workflows a reality, the shape of TV news production, presentation and even publishing — not just to air, but to multiple platforms — is changing. Here’s a look at five important technologies that are helping to transform television news. Above, a virtual set in use at Raycom’s WBTV Charlotte, N.C.

RTDNA finds that 16.3% of local TV news operations are using drones, 6.7% plan to start soon, 17.7% have used them but aren’t now, and 59.4% have no plans to use them.

The Aerobo Mini newsgathering drone is designed with a host of safety features that include a spring-loaded dual parachute system, plastic and carbon fiber construction and foldable rotors among others.

This year’s gathering in Las Vegas will offer more than 30 drone-centric sessions, tech demos and panels.

RTDNA, the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) and several other news and media organizations have written a letter to Louisiana Senator Daniel Claitor, regarding a pair of bills that would severely restrict newsgathering using drones.

On Feb. 24, the FAA signaled its interest in writing its final small drone rules, expected as early as this summer, to accommodate the needs of the journalism community. While reiterating its reluctance to embrace a simple exclusion for drones below a certain weight, the agency formally appointed a new industry advisory committee, and gave it an April 1 deadline to develop recommendations for how flight over people by small drones can be made safe.

The U.S. government wants to create a new category of “micro” drones that are built with materials that won’t harm people in a crash, opening the door for more widespread uses in crowded places and other sensitive locations.

The amendment, offered by Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) would create a category of drones under 4.4 pounds, which would exempt operators from testing requirements of aeronautical knowledge, age limits and airworthiness certifications. The goal is to allow users such as news operations to use small drones for newsgathering without the licensing requirements currently required by the FAA. If passed into law, the provision would allow newsrooms to begin deploying drones more quickly.

Drones are no flash in the pan, as ample evidence at last week’s CES revealed. Ryan Nakashima reports there’s speculation that drones may become a mass-market product for consumers in three years as the FAA continues to labor away on drone-safety rules.

The sky was falling on the slopes in Italy, as Austrian alpine skier Marcel Hirscher was very close to being hit by a drone carrying a TV camera while making his second slalom run at an evening World Cup event. He also was able to joke about the near-miss on an Instagram post captioned, “Heavy air traffic in Italy — #crazy #drone #crash #luckyme.”

The drones must be marked with the owner’s unique registration number. The FAA said that would let authorities track down owners if they violate the rules. But registration also gives the agency a vehicle to educate owners just as thousands get drones as presents for Christmas and other holidays. The requirement covers aircraft weighing from more than half pound up to 55 pounds, including any payload such as a camera. Drone owners who are 13 and older will have to register on an FAA website that becomes available starting Dec. 21. The FAA expects parents to register for younger children.

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved an application from CNN to fly drones. The agency issued the approval for CNN to use drones “to conduct aerial photography, aerial videography, and closed-set motion picture and television filming.” In doing so, it waived requirements for FAA approval of drone flights that are operated outside restricted airspace and below 200 feet.

News organizations — particularly newspapers — are eager to embrace drones as a relatively cost-effective alternative to helicopter aerial coverage. But for all of their advantages, Mary Collins weighs the known and unknown risks in using them, including the high insurance costs, not to mention the regulation uncertainties that have yet to fully coalesce.

If an aviation industry task force has its way, even drones as light as half a pound would need to be registered to operate. That threshold is based on the impact it could have it it fell from the sky and struck someone or hit a helicopter or plane.

The law allows newsgathering and amateur drone operations within existing federal rules.

Media General-owned independent KRON San Francisco (DMA 6)  has a brand new tool to use for newsgathering and to enhance storytelling — a drone. QuadCopter4 debuted in the station’s continuing […]