Unmanned Aerial Systems unit for aerial imagery and reporting across networks

As the news industry leader in the development of technology used in newsgathering, CNN has launched CNN Aerial Imagery and Reporting (CNN AIR). For the first time in the company’s history, CNN will have a designated Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) unit with two full-time UAS operators to fully integrate aerial imagery and reporting across all CNN networks and platforms, along with Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner entities.

“CNN’s cutting-edge development of technology to enhance the way we tell stories is a part of our DNA,” said Terence Burke, Senior Vice President of National News. “We are proud to continue the tradition with CNN AIR, and to establish a unit that will expand our technological capabilities for newsgathering.”

CNN has been a leader in integrating this new technology into its operations, forming the first media-related research partnership with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and entering into a direct research agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In 2015, CNN was selected by the FAA as one of the first three industry “Pathfinders” to develop safe uses of UAS in newsgathering. CNN has shared data and research that has helped formulate a framework for various types of UAS to be safely integrated into the national air space and continues to work to expand the safe and legal operation of UAS in newsgathering.

CNN has utilized UAS to provide understanding and context, enhanced storytelling and production value, led by Greg Agvent, Senior Director of National Newsgathering Technology. CNN’s deployment of UAS have demonstrated the breadth of the flooding in Louisiana and the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. They have also been utilized at the Republican and Democratic presidential nominating conventions, CNN presidential primary debates and town halls, and to enhance storytelling across CNN’s platforms, including the 50th anniversary of the civil rights march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, and Anderson Cooper’s coverage of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

CNN Worldwide is a portfolio of two dozen news and information services across cable, satellite, radio, wireless devices and the Internet in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. It is the most widely distributed news channel reaching more than 320 million households; and CNN Digital is a top network for online news, mobile news and social media. CNN is a division of Turner Broadcasting System, a Time Warner Company.

The launch of the drone division opens the gates for journalists to cover news from new heights and angles enabled by cameras atop these aerial vehicles. The Federal Aviation Administration, after much wait, has recently released guidelines allowing journalists to operate drones after passing a test.

Now, only time can tell whether the drones will enhance the threat to public safety or privacy already being exposed to various other technological invasions. Being a pioneer, CNN will certainly have an edge over competition even as many others are yet to decide on the suitability of the technology. It is also worth watching how a drone enabled photojournalist matches the existing requirements of time tested professional imagery. It’s too early to measure the implications of limitation of flying space as other competitors and industries too seek possibilities of benefits from this technology. For general acceptability of the technology, there are many considerations like people’s safety, privacy, journalistic ethics, possibilities of accidents or sabotage etc. Let’s hope it goes right in the direction of improvement of human life.