Missouri Drone Journalism Program – Convergence Capstone Team
Jaime Cooke, Robert Partyka, Zach Garcia
Executive Summary
For the past four months, our team has helped to carve out a public presence for the Missouri Drone Journalism Program – a collaborative program between the University of Missouri’s Information Technology and Journalism programs, as well as KBIA-FM. As a by-product of our close work with the burgeoning program, we became quite involved and well-versed in the growing public debate surrounding the use of drones both internationally and on U.S. grounds. The sensation that we were involved in something bigger than the program itself became apparent only three weeks into the semester – when the program was invited to attend a preliminary hearing for a bill that aimed to, in large part, prohibit the use of drones for most purposes in the state of Missouri.
The upfront tension and overall attention to the program that we encountered at the House of Representatives’ preliminary hearing on February 5 would only widen in scope as the semester progressed. At least 10 external web, print and broadcast stories have given mention to the Missouri Drone Journalism Program.
The unique, six-student reporting corps have learned to incorporate drone footage into in-depth environmental reporting over the course of the semester. Our team has learned quite a bit over that time as well, especially when it comes to blog regulation in the face of media inquiries. In at least one situation, a news outlet directly quoted a member of our team based off of a blog post – leading us to post contact policies and reminding us that posts can be considered fair game by at least some external sources as a statement from the program itself.
Beginning with after-hours flight training and running on through the progress made on late-semester team stories, our capstone team also learned to always be prepared to rapidly follow the program wherever the wind might blow it (sometimes quite literally) on a daily basis. The Tucker Prairie burn (see page 8), for instance, was scheduled late the night beforehand and was completed within a three hour window midday on a Tuesday. We had to be ready to grab equipment and go just about anywhere to attain coverage and perspective on the program, and had a near perfect success rate in adjusting to and documenting these ventures.
On the blog itself, our team provided a multimedia experience that included an audio story of the legislative hearing (page 3), visual description of the class layout through posting the official class syllabus, posting thorough research stories regarding the world of drone technology (pages 4-7 & 8-11) and perhaps most strongly presenting behind-the-scenes, documentary-style videos depiciting the people of the program (pages 7 & 8).
We have provided a public identity for a promising drone journalism program that is only poised to grow in reporting capabilities moving forward. While we move onto other areas of life beyond the University of Missouri, we hope that missouridronejournalism.com and all of the site’s content serves similarly: as a good start. As the program moves on to even bigger drone-assisted reporting opportunities, we know that the program’s online footprint will need to continue to grow proportionally, and look forward to observing both the reporting from and about the program will continue to reach new heighths.
A Sample of Our Team’s Documented Production:
Proposed legislation aims to outlaw drones in Missouri……………….Page 3
Prairie Burn Story Research……………………………………...........Pages 3-4
Getting to know the Drones…………………………………………......Pages 4-7
Cade Cleavelin: Drone Journalist…………………………………………Page 7
NBC Camera Operator Discusses Drones in Broadcast TV.................Page 8
Program Reports on a Prairie Fire: Behind the Scenes……................Page 8
What Flies When it Comes to Drone Laws Across the Globe……..Pages 8-11
Journalists from Pakistan visit the MDJP……………………........Pages 11-12
Korean Journalists Observe a Class, Drones in Flight………….Pages 12-13
Proposed legislation aims to outlaw drones in Missouri
February 11, 2013
Drones are proving to be a polarizing topic with their growth in the public eye.
The rise of these flying, video-capturing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (or UAVs) has excited some with the promise of overhead landscape views never before possible.
The domestic use of such vehicles has also been met with criticism and claims of privacy invasion, prompting several states to propose legislation to halt their use.
Missouri has joined the list, as State Rep. Casey Guernsey introduced and defended his proposed Preserving Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act at a House Agri-Business Committee hearing on Feb. 5.
The bill, which has yet to gain another hearing date, “prohibits the use of a drone or other unmanned aircraft to gather evidence or other information with specified exceptions.”
**ACCOMPANYING AUDIO CLIPS: http://www.missouridronejournalism.com/2013/02/proposed-legislation-aims-to-outlaw-drones-in-missouri/
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Prairie Burn Story Research
February 20, 2013
This past Friday afternoon, some of the journalism students working on the project traveled over to the Prairie Fork Conservation Area near Williamsburg, Missouri to follow up on a possible story idea. Prairie Fork is an example of one of the few existing prairie lands in Missouri, and is part of an ongoing project by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) to convert and maintain these lands back to their natural prairie state. The purpose of the visit was to follow up on a story idea that focused on the MDC’s use of controlled fires to preserve and maintain the prairie lands. Usually referred to as an “prairie burn,” this process involves igniting man-made fires to help clear the land as well as provide nutrients, encourages biodiversity and seed development and reduces shrubbery growth.
This is where the Missouri Drone Journalism Program comes in.
In an attempt to use drones in new and emerging ways, the program is hoping to use several drones to capture aerial video footage of the prairie burn while it is in progress and utilize that footage as part of a multimedia story about prairie burns in mid-Missouri. The hope is to capture this prairie burn from angles that wouldn’t be possible using traditional methods, and to eventually have the story published on KBIA.
Below is a short clip of Jeff Demand, wildlife management biologist from the MDC, explaining how a prairie burns work, and how members of the MDC plan to direct the prairie burn.
**ACCOMPANYING VIDEO: http://www.missouridronejournalism.com/2013/02/prairie-burn-research/
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Getting to know the Drones
March 4, 2013
The true stars of the Missouri Drone Journalism Program are the drones themselves, or the J-Bots, as the students pioneering the project have come to call them. Working with these Unmanned Aerial Vehicles is made possible through a partnership with the MU Information Technology Program, in which under the direction of IT Program lead Matthew Dickinson, students have learned to build and control the drones. Following are descriptions of the drones at the helm of the Missouri Drone Journalism Program:
- Quadcopter (DJI F450)
The Quadcopter, or “Quad,” is the most basic of the IT Program’s constructed drones and is the machine type that the Journalism Program’s students have been learning to fly by operating. The Quadcopter makes use of a hand-held radio transmitter, and runs on an external battery (either 3S or 4S) that attaches to the drone’s frame, allowing flight life of approximately 17 minutes. Motorized propellers, which lift the drone to flight, range from eight to ten inches in length. This drone does not have a camera gimbal, and is intended mainly for training use.
- TBS Discovery Quadcopter
This Quadcopter has been built around a TBS Discovery airframe. The TBS Discovery system uses an APM 2.5 controller, along with GPS and telemetry links, to carry First Person View equipment and
transmit 1.3 GHz live video. What all this means is that the TBS Discovery Quadcopter has the capacity to stream live video through flight to an adjacent monitor (see corresponding image to the right), for both flight control and recording purposes. This Quadcopter also has an attached base that can securely hold an additional camera, such as a GoPro, for either ground or overhead imaging. This Quadcopter also serves as a platform for the IT Program to develop APM flight controller code.
- Hexacopter (DJI F550)
The Hexacopter, or “Hex,” holds six motors, instead of the four that Quadcopters utilize. This, in theory, leads to better control of the vehicles when in flight, as the motors are spaced closer together and react with quicker and more precise movements from the radio transmitter. The Hexacopter’s larger size also allows it to support a built-in landing gear unit and a camera gimbal. The gimbal gives an external camera (when attached) a steady base.
- XAircraft X650 V8
Image Courtesy of MU IT Drone Lab
The XAircraft X650 V8 drone is currently being tested for the purpose of determining if the vehicle’s eight motors rightly provide additional stability over lower models by the IT Program, and may not see the hands of the Journalism Program until more complex stories are approached. A high payload capacity on this drone also allows for the use of larger batteries and extended airtime.
- “The BumbleBee” Quadcopter
“The BumbleBee” Quad (right) relative to a normal-sized Quadcopter (left)
This tiny Quadcopter, nicknamed “The BumbleBee,” is remarkable in the fact that it was constructed completely through the use of the IT Program’s Full Spectrum Laser 40W Laser Cutter. This non-GPS Quadcopter, which is utilized as more of an indoor flyer due to its small size and will not serve duty in the Journalism Program’s approach to public land stories.
Information in this article was provided from Matthew Dickinson and the MU IT Program Drone Lab.
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Cade Cleavelin, Drone Journalist
March 15, 2013
Cade Cleavelin practiced using one of the Missouri Drone Journalism Program’s drones to fly over a few thousand snow geese congregating at Eagle Bluffs Conversation Area on Saturday, March 9. The mission of the trip was to capture an aerial shot that could illustrate just how many Snow Geese were in the area. The Snow Geese are in Columbia longer than usual due to heavy snowfall and other factors that disrupted their migration.
**ACCOMPANYING VIDEO: http://www.missouridronejournalism.com/2013/03/cade-cleavelin-drone-journalist/
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NBC Camera Operator Discusses Drones in Broadcast TV
April 1, 2013
NBC freelance cameraman John Lewis came to film the Missouri Drone Journalism Program in Columbia, Mo, on March 8, 2013. When asked if he would ever use drone technology at his camera rental business, he said he’d leave it for the younger guys to experiment with.
**ACCOMPANYING VIDEO: http://www.missouridronejournalism.com/2013/04/nbc-cameraman-discusses-drones-in-broadcast-tv/
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Program Reports on Prairie Fire: Behind the Scenes
April 10, 2013
Pilot Brendan Gibbons gives behind-the-scenes details of what it was like to fly the quadcopter drone over flames during a controlled burn at Tucker Prairie in Kingdom City, Mo, on April 2, 2013. As a member of the program, Gibbons is learning to control the drone through a remote control and use the footage captured by the drone to assist in reporting. The story on the burn is the second story completed by the Missouri Drone Program, and was published on Tuesday, April 9 on Harvest Public Media and KBIA.
**ACCOMPANYING VIDEO: http://www.missouridronejournalism.com/2013/04/251/
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What Flies When it Comes to Drone Laws Across the Globe
April 19, 2013
As debate over drones in combat reaches a tipping point in the United States, the use of unmanned flying bots on domestic ground is also starting to pick up steam. As many as 28 states are considering legislation that would outlaw unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. Another contentious issue in the U.S. is what makes a UAV “commercial” or “recreational.” Commercial use is generally recognized as having a profit endgame, but murky Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) laws only fuel the debate. Using UAVs for journalistic purposes seems to further blur the line between commercial and recreational use.
UAVs have also been making waves internationally, where laws (or guidelines) vary from nation to nation. The below is a guide we’ve put together that breaks down these various UAV laws. In most of the countries we’ve taken a look at, the designation between commercial and recreational UAV use is a key starting point in deciding rules and enforcement.
Canada (UAV-Friendly Rating: 2/5)
Perhaps the most complex UAV laws in the entire world exist just north of U.S. borders. Transport Canada is the agency that regulates Canadian air space, and it sets a clear line between “unmanned aerial vehicles” (commercial use) and “model aircraft” (recreational use). The definition of a model aircraft: less than 77.2 pounds, individually owned (no companies allowed) and not profit-seeking. If an aircraft meets these conditions, it is considered a recreational vehicle, making it subject to lower scrutiny. Aircraft that don’t meet this criteria are officially “unmanned aerial vehicles” and require Special Flight Operations certificates. Getting certified sounds like an almost more-trouble-than-it’s-worth process that includes a big list of specifications. For example: a UAV can meet the three model aircraft standards listed above, but if it’s also got a small camera, then the UAV automatically becomes an “unmanned aerial vehicle” under the law.
DIYdrones has more useful information on Canadian UAV law.
Mexico (UAV-Friendly Rating: 5/5)
No Civil Aviation Authority regulations beset UAV users in Mexico. In fact, Mexican attitudes evidently encourage UAV use. The Mexican government rewarded Jordi Muñoz, who is a young scientist and engineer, for exploring the peaceful uses of drones through his own production company, for example. The government also uses UAVs for everything from drug activity to university research.
United Kingdom (UAV-Friendly Rating: 3/5)
The U.K.’s UAV laws are similar to the current policies of the U.S. – meaning they’re really more like guidelines than a comprehensive set of regulations. Currently, CAP 722 claims jurisdiction over UAV use in the U.K. This legislation divides UAV use into two groups that both require permits. The key figure in the U.K. is 20 kg (or 44.09 pounds) – this is the weight limit a UAV cannot surpass to be considered a “small unmanned aircraft.” This title makes the aircraft more likely to only require a minor “Permit to Fly” classification, which is relatively easy to acquire, but does limit where and how high you can fly (rural lands are more acceptable).
Anything heavier or used for aerial photography requires a “Permit to Carry Out Aerial Work,” which comes with tougher restrictions. Attaining one of these permits requires a big list of prerequisites – from pilot qualification to design and construction certificates. According to The Guardian, there are only 130 groups or companies that have permission to fly UAVs in U.K. airspace.