Abstract:
Aerial Newsgathering or Drone Journalism is the use of
drones for newsgathering and reporting with the application of
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Unmanned Aircraft
System (UAS) in covering conflict, civil unrest and disaster.
Anchored on the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, this paper,
“The Use of Technology in Newsgathering” analytically reviewed
the concept of aerial newsgathering or drone journalism,
otherwise called UAVs. The review shows that „drone‟ which
was originally created for military operations has now been
adopted for civilian use such as journalism especially in
potentially hostile environments in order to minimizeor prevent
loss of human journalists on the line of duty and other dangers of
using human journalists in dangeroussettings. The
reviewfurther indicates that „Drone Journalism‟ is one of the
recent technologies adopted in journalism practicewhich helps to
reduce or minimize the killing of human journalists who
areexposed to dangers in their line of duty especially during wars
and other potentially risky incidences of man-made and natural
disasters such as floods, wild fires, storms, earthquakes, and civil
unrest. The review also shows that while „drone technology‟ is an
amazing innovation in both militaryand media organizations,
journalism practitioners should be mindful of operational
guidelines such as ethics, sovereignty issues, privacy and safety.
