FAA, CNN Will Partner To Use Drones For Making News

Drones routinely make the news, but are you ready for them to make the news? The FAA and CNN have announced they have reached an agreement meant to allow CNN to explore the merits of drone flight when used in an official capacity. The aim is to create a "framework" (best practices, really) for other networks and entities to use drones for similar purposes. The agreement is purely for research at this point, but the incoming framework suggests the FAA knows drones can't be stopped; you can only hope to contain them.

In a press release, CNN Senior Vice President David Vigilante had the following to say about CNN's efforts:

Our aim is to get beyond hobby-grade equipment and to establish what options are available and workable to produce high quality video journalism using various types of UAVs and camera setups Our hope is that these efforts contribute to the development of a vibrant ecosystem where operators of various types and sizes can safely operate in the US airspace.

The FAA is touting safety as their focus for the partnership, citing their desire to have other news organizations follow CNN's lead and "safely integrate unmanned technology" into their routine.

The unanswered question is how this relates to citizen journalists, where CNN has made very open efforts to get you and I reporting the news to them via iReport. Drones are available to everyone. Like this partnership, the FAA has unveiled 'best practices' for drone ownership and operation, but they're not hard and fast rules.

Source: CNN