“Have Drone, Will Broadcast”

I crafted something a little different yesterday. After completing eight more pages in Universe Expanded I took a break and put together a short piece on drones and citizen journalism. This is purely speculative, and the centerpiece is the idea of a reporter followed by a swarm of drones.

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In private messages, I heard from someone who works in broadcasting and has been involved in discussions of drone use in reporting. The discussion we had included a mention that drone reporting is unlikely because the drones would be susceptible to damage from crowds. People throwing rocks, for example, could damage and knock a drone out of the sky. The argument is that most people don’t like to have their picture taken, and video is even worse.

I have no idea if we will or will not see drones regularly used in journalism, but I suspect that there will be at least a few instances of this sort of usage before much longer. It’s the future, folks, so get out there and enjoy it.