doxa.comunicación | 26, pp. 35-58 | 36

January-June 2018

Journalism and drones. Challenges and opportunities of the use of drones in news production Ángeles Fernández Barrero

ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978

1. Introduction

In a short time, the versatility of drones has allowed them to be adapted to such diverse disciplines as agriculture, engineering, and journalism, where the terms ‘drone journalism’ and ‘dronalists’ have already been coined. In journalism, its main application to date has been to obtain images when the circumstances advise against dispatching reporters, such as armed conflicts, other dangerous situations, and areas that are hard to reach. For the media, the possibility of safely capturing images and video footage of wars, natural disasters, and demonstrations would now be a reality, if it were not for the legal constraints, differing from country to country, on the use of drones for different public safety reasons.

Since their military origins, a new lucrative market has opened up for drones including civil, entertainment, business, and professional uses, although the experts predict that this young market will come into its own with a more flexible legislation. In Spain, the new legal framework established by Royal Decree 1036/2017, of 15 December, and in force since 30 December 2017, which is both more comprehensive and more flexible, now allows drones to be flown in places where this has been prohibited hitherto, i.e. in the vicinity of buildings, built-up areas, and outdoor gatherings. Night flying is also now permitted, provided that drones meet the requirements established to guarantee their safe use. In short, it is a very recent piece of legislation whose purpose is to promote the fledgling drone industry.

However, this is not the only factor that has delayed the introduction of drone journalism in Spain, where the major media companies have not envisaged the incorporation of this technology into their production processes. In contrast, small production companies and freelancers offering these services to third parties have indeed proliferated. Other factors that have also hindered the development of the drone market include the media’s concern over the administrative red tape involved in obtaining flight permits; the investment in assets with a planned obsolescence; and the distrust generated by associated ethical conflicts, such as breach of privacy and the technology’s suspect military past.

2. Methodology

2.1. Objectives

The primary aim of this paper is to analyse the uses of drones in journalism, with respect to news coverage and its production processes, the pursuit of journalism as a profession, and the internal workings of the media. A second objective is to identify and theorize about the different factors that help to explain the scant use of this technology in news production in Spain to date. And thirdly, based on an analysis of the causes suggested by theoreticians and journalists from an academic and professional point of view, respectively, an attempt is made to inquire into how these obstacles might be overcome in order to offer an overview of possible future trends.

2.2. Procedure

To establish a theoretical framework, we first conducted a bibliographic and documentary review of academic and science popularization books and papers with a view to tracing the origins of the term, concept, and technological design of drones and their media applications. This review has allowed us to identify the main opportunities that this technology can