CNN And FAA Agree To News Drones Usage

Drones have been a popular discussion these days and CNN is joining. CNN and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) signed a research agreement for news drones that will result in more unmanned aerial vehicles in news reporting.

CNN’s David Vigilante said “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.” They hope that their new reporting technique will “contribute to the development of a vibrant ecosystem.”

News drones usage has been widely accepted among news organizations. Aerial vehicles would be more cost-effective and a lot safer during dangerous conditions such as hurricanes and wildfires.

CNN had intentions of possibly using drones since June when they started studying the devices. They partnered with Georgia Institute of Technology to discover the best and safest way to use small drones for news reporting. That research was presented to the FAA, which helped in passing the agreement.

There seems to be so much excitement with drone technology, but the FAA seems to be having a difficult time dealing with it and regulations surrounding the flying vehicles. News organizations have criticized the FAA’s commercial drone ban currently in place, and Amazon threatened to move their drone research overseas if the administration didn’t ease up on their strict rules.

The CNN news drone agreement with the FAA shows that the officials are possibly seeing the potential of commercial drones and are relaxing a bit. Still, for drones to become more common, regulations will have to be reformed.

At the international CES last week, Intel demonstrated their own drone installed with its RealSense technology. The drones were able to adapt to its surroundings, dodging obstacles and even recognizing when a door was open before flying through. The demonstration showed the potential drones have.

CNN is taking the step. Perhaps the FAA and other companies can come up with a similar agreement for news drones and other commercial use.