Dubai: Recent technological breakthroughs such as drones are set to reshape the future of journalism by providing journalists and media personnel with innovative methods to carry out their duties more accurately and efficiently.
Under the theme of exploring new trends, the Arab Media Forum (AMF), taking place on May 12-13, will host Professor Matt Waite, the founder of the Drone Journalism Lab, to discuss the possibilities of using drones in media, particularly in news-gathering and production of images and videos.
Professor Waite, a professor of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, advocates the use of drones as tools for more scientific news gathering. He believes that since journalism is evolving rapidly, journalism education must cope accordingly, teaching new tools and storytelling strategies while remaining true to the core principles and ethics of journalism. Professor Waite established the Drone Journalism Lab to explore how drones can be used for reporting. Students and faculty of the Lab build drone platforms and research the ethical, legal and regulatory issues involved in using pilotless aircraft to do journalism.
Professor Waite will discuss his work on drone journalism and the ethical concerns that arise as a result of drone use in media at the Arab Media Forum. While he believes drones hold great promise for journalists to gather photos, videos and data for storytelling, the devices also carry safety, ethical and legal issues.
Before joining the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Professor Waite served as senior news technologist for the St Petersburg Times of Florida. He was the principal developer of the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact, a website that fact checks what politicians say. Professor Waite’s projects accounted for more than 50 per cent of all traffic to the St Petersburg Times websites in less than a year.
Dubai continues efforts to assess the impact of global technological developments while keeping pace with progress in this field. The emirate recently undertook a study of international experiences and best practices related to the usage of drones. A legal framework is being studied in Dubai to regulate drone usage and limit the erroneous use of advanced technologies, which may adversely affect aviation safety.
