Deborah G. Johnson, University of Virginia, US
Astrid Gynnild, University of Bergen, NO
Flying camera robots (i.e., drones equipped with cameras) are increasingly being used to document newsworthy events on the ground. This practice is likely to escalate and to have significant effects on the nature of journalism and media reporting in the future. Ultimately it may have profound effects on the way news consumers understand and respond to events. The practice raises a host of questions related to responsible robotics including the following:
What sort of norms should be developed with regard to appropriate events to be covered, protections for the privacy of those on the ground, integration with other sources of information, editing of footage to be published?
How will reliance upon drone video footage change relationships between news consumers, news producers, and journalists? How will it change values such as truth and trust upon which journalism depends? In the past journalists have served as eyewitnesses to important events with news consumers trusting eyewitness reports. Of course, journalists select and interpret what they see for their reports; their reputations depend on how well they do this. Drone coverage will likely change this as video footage replaces eyewitnesses and may be seen as more objective, though video footage will involve also involve selection and interpretation though in a different way, by different means.
What will be the effect on news consumers of increasing exposure to an aerial perspective? Will this change how individuals see themselves in the world? Even though news consumers will watch video of others, will this add to their feeling of constant surveillance, i.e., of being watched all the time?
Responsible use of drones in the media involves considering the implications of using drones one way or another rather than simply letting them go wherever and do whatever is possible. This requires careful monitoring of early use of the technology and feedback to the communities involved. This presentation is part of a larger project aimed at doing just that, i.e., undertaking research on the early uses of drones in the media and involving those who use the technology. The project consists of an international team of scholars centered at the University of Bergen, Norway with funding from the Norwegian Research Council. The project is entitled “Responsible Adoption of Visual Surveillance Technologies in the News Media (ViSmedia)”.
