Syllabus for HONR 399-703: Drones in Journalism

VCU HONORS COLLEGE ● ROBERTSON SCHOOL OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
Eye in the Sky: Drones in Journalism and Other Media Industries
Syllabus ● HONR 399-703 ● CRN 30642 ● Spring 2015
Instructor:
Associate Professor Jeff South (with help from
Robertson School videographer Gary Gillam
and course assistant Craig Zirpolo)
Office:
Temple Building, 901 W. Main St., Room 1149-B
Office hours:
1-3 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays;
and by appointment
Phone:
827-0253 (office); 754-3670 (home); 519-1062 (cell)
Email:
jcsouth@vcu.edu
Class hours
and location:
9:30-10:45 a.m., Tuesdays and Thursday (and possibly
a Saturday field trip), from March 24 through April 23
Meeting location
Room 4110 (the “incubator classroom”) in the
Academic Learning Commons, 1000 Floyd Ave.
On the Web:
http://rampages.us/mediadrone
In addition, students will create individual sites on
Rampages.us and blog about their experiences in the
course. Our “mediadrone” site will aggregate your
postings. We also will use Facebook and Twitter for
discussions.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This Honors module will examine how journalists, advertisers, filmmakers and other media
professionals can use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, commonly called drones) in a safe and
responsible way to craft messages for a mass audience. News stories, commercials, movies and
other media content can benefit from the overhead perspective and angles that drone-mounted
cameras can provide. The course will explore the technology, law, ethics and other aspects of
deploying drones to produce such content.
At minimum, this course will be a seminar in which students research and discuss these issues. If
possible, we will give students experience flying UAVs and taking aerial photos and videos.
DETAILS AND BACKGROUND
Students in this course will research the use of fixed-wing and multi-rotor drones to pursue
engaging, innovative and responsible storytelling for mass media. We will look at how UAVs
could enhance journalism (such as covering disasters or environmental degradation), advertising
(shooting overhead video for commercials) and movie-making (filming scenes from above).
Drones represent a new frontier for capturing images from the sky.
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Currently, for example, a news organization or film crew must pay hundreds of dollars an hour to
hire a helicopter to fly over a news scene or movie location. This task now can be handled by a
camera-equipped drone that costs about $1,000. Under Federal Aviation Administration rules,
UAVs must stay below 400 feet, but that is plenty high enough to shoot photos and videos (and
for journalists, do other reporting tasks, such as take air samples) needed by today’s multimedia
storytellers.
In this course, besides examining the technical aspects of flying drones, we will explore the legal
and ethical aspects as well:

What is the law governing the use of UAVs by news organizations and other media
operations?

How can we help ensure that UAVs are operated safely?

What are the liability issues if a UAV malfunctions, crashes and damages property or
injures someone?

What are the privacy concerns associated with UAVs, and how can they be addressed?
We will do more than talk about these issues. We hope students will get hands-on experience
with drones as well. In the classroom, we will work in groups to examine how drones are built
and how they operate. Moreover, we may organize a field trip to see experts flying and taking
videos and still photos with UAVs. In addition, we will provide input to the FAA as it accepts
comments on its proposed rules governing the commercial use of drones.
What this course is not: This is not a course about the use of drones in warfare. We will not
debate the government’s deployment of UAVs to conduct missile strikes or assassinations as part
of the “War on Terror.” Those are issues worthy of debate in a philosophy, public policy,
homeland security or other class. But this course is about specific non-military uses of drones –
especially to shoot photos and videos (not people) from the air.
COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:

Identify specific ways in which UAVs can enhance storytelling for journalism,
advertising, filmmaking and other media messages

Discuss the technological, safety, legal and ethical aspects of the use of drones
by media professionals

Understand how UAVs such as the DJI Phantom 2 Vision and the DJI Inspire 1 work
Students will collaborate in researching, writing and publishing on our class website a white
paper explaining these issues. That paper will serve as the basis for comments we submit to the
FAA. We also will publish on our site videos taken by drone-mounted cameras.
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REQUIRED READING MATERIALS
Because this subject is so new, there are no books specifically about the use of drones by media
organizations. Therefore, we will draw from articles from newspapers, magazines and websites;
from court rulings and other government documents on the issue; and from other online
resources. We will post (or post links to) these reading materials and resources on our course
website. In addition, you must subscribe to a weekly newsletter from the Drone Journalism Lab
at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; do that at http://tinyletter.com/mattwaite
CLASS WEBSITES AND FACEBOOK GROUP
We will use Blackboard, VCU’s course management system [http://blackboard.vcu.edu], as our
private website. I will use Blackboard for posting announcements and grades, and you can use it
for emailing me or students in the course. We might use Blackboard for submitting some
assignments.
We will create a public website [http://wp.vcu.edu/mediadrone] for posting the results of your
research in this class. For example, we will post a white paper that our class will produce –
advising the media industries about the technical, legal, ethical and other aspects of using drones.
In addition, you each will create a site (if you don’t have one already) on the Rampages server
for blogging and social bookmarking. Your postings will be aggregated on our “mediadrone”
site.
We also will use a class Facebook group for questions, discussions and out-of-class
communication. You will receive an invitation to join this group at the beginning of the
semester.
Finally, we will use Twitter for sharing information and thoughts about drones with the broader
community. Tweet from your personal account, using the hashtag #vcudrones.
CLASS ATTENDANCE POLICY
Because our module will meet for only five weeks, attendance is mandatory at all class meetings.
Attendance will be taken at the start of each class. If you are more than 15 minutes late, you will
receive partial credit for that day’s attendance.
The attendance policy for this course is strict: If you have two unexcused absences, your final
grade will be lowered by one letter. If you have four or more absences for whatever reason, you
automatically would receive an F in the course. You would be able to avoid the F by
withdrawing from the class.
ASSIGNMENTS
Blogging: At least once a week, you will be expected to post content on your Rampages site. For
example, you might link to and comment on an article about a media organization using drones;
summarize a Google Hangout featuring a virtual guest speaker; or offer your informed opinion
about the legal and ethical debate surrounding civilian use of UAVs. In addition, you should
tweet twice a week about these issues (perhaps linking to your longer blog postings).
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Group presentation: We will divide the class into small groups, and each team will make an oral
presentation about how a particular segment of the media industries (such as journalism,
advertising or filmmaking) could use drones.
White paper: We will collaborate on producing a white paper that advises the media industries
about the technical, legal, ethical and other aspects of using drones. Each student will be
responsible for a specific part of the paper. Parts of this paper will be submitted to the FAA as
part of its rule-making process on the commercial use of drones.
Final exam: At the end of the course, you will take an essay exam.
DEADLINES AND LATE WORK
For communicators, an essential skill is the ability to work against a deadline. Therefore, in this
course, you must turn in work on time. Plan ahead, organize your time and do not procrastinate.
If you miss a deadline, you will receive a zero for that assignment.
GRADES
Your final grade will be based on the following assignments and exams:
Component of final grade
Percent of final grade
In-class participation
10%
Blogging
20%
Group presentation
20%
Contribution to our white paper
20%
Final exam
30%
Total
100%
We will use the following grading scale:
A = 90-100; B = 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 60-69; F = below 60
Details on all assignments, including deadlines, will be available on the class website.
INCOMPLETES
No incompletes will be given in this course, except for dire emergencies. All assignments must
be completed by the end of the semester to pass.
ETHICS
Fabricating material or using another’s work without attribution is an extremely serious offense,
and your name will be turned in to appropriate university officials. In this course, as in the
communication profession, plagiarism is not tolerated.
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The VCU Honor System will be enforced in this class. Unless I specify otherwise, all work done
for this course is “pledged” work, as defined by the Honor System. Each assignment implicitly
carries this pledge:
“On my honor, I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment.”
For a complete copy of the VCU Honor System, see www.provost.vcu.edu/policies/#H.
CLASSROOM CONDUCT
According to the student conduct policy in the VCU Undergraduate Bulletin, you are entitled to
receive instruction free from interference by other students. If you believe that another student’s
behavior is disruptive, tell me and I will deal with the situation.
No food or drink is allowed in the classroom. Turn off your cellular phones before class begins.
You may not sleep, wear headphones or use electronic devices (such as computer games) in
class. You must not conduct side conversations or create other disruptions. It is disruptive to
arrive late and/or pack up early. Be on time for class and plan on meeting for the entire class
period.
VCU rules prohibit anyone “to have in his possession any firearm, other weapon, or explosive,
regardless of whether a license to possess the same has been issued, without the written
authorization of the President of the university.”
Be polite; respect your classmates, your instructor and others with whom you will interact during
this course. If you engage in any behavior that I deem disruptive, you will get a verbal warning
for the first incident and a written warning for the second. A third incident will result in your
being administratively withdrawn from this class.
COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY
It is vital that students in this course broaden their mass communications experiences, with
guidance from the instructor, by including in their course work people and subjects such as
ethnic, racial and religious minorities, people with disabilities, gay men and lesbians, and other
groups. The intent is to ensure that students are exposed to diverse ideas and perspectives. In this
class, it is the responsibility of the instructor and students to foster an environment that supports
free expression.
Under VCU policy, you may not harass or intimidate any person or “interfere with the lawful
freedom of other persons, including invited speakers, to express their views.” (For more about
these policies, see www.students.vcu.edu/docs/policy_student_conduct.pdf.)
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires Virginia Commonwealth University to
provide academic adjustments or accommodations for students with documented disabilities. If
you have a disability that requires an academic adjustment or accommodation, you must contact
Joyce Knight, the coordinator of services for students with disabilities on VCU’s Academic
Campus. Ms. Knight’s office is in Room 102 of the Student Commons, 907 Floyd Ave. Her
e-mail address is jbknight@vcu.edu, and her phone number is 828-2253.
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After meeting with Ms. Knight, you then should meet with me to discuss your needs and how we
can address them. For more information, see the university’s Web page on Services for Students
with Disabilities:
www.students.vcu.edu/dss/
WHAT TO KNOW AND DO TO BE PREPARED FOR EMERGENCIES AT VCU
1. Sign up to receive VCU text messaging alerts [http://alert.vcu.edu/signup/]. Keep your
information up-to-date.
2. Know the safe evacuation route from each of your classrooms. Emergency evacuation routes
are posted in on-campus classrooms.
3. Listen for and follow instructions from VCU or other designated authorities.
4. Know where to go for additional emergency information [http://alert.vcu.edu/].
5. Know the emergency phone number for the VCU Police (828-1234). Report suspicious
activities and objects.
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WEEK-BY-WEEK SCHEDULE OF CLASS TOPICS
Below is a tentative schedule for what we will do each week. It likely will change as the course
progresses. If you have suggestions for additional topics or activities, please let me know.
During Week 3 or 4, I hope to arrange a field trip during which you can see (and perhaps fly) a
UAV. I will try to accommodate everyone’s schedule. If you can’t go on the field trip because of
work or other commitments, I will provide an alternative activity.
Week 1:
3/24 & 3/26
Course introduction; overview of civilian uses of drones; government regulations
on the use of drones by civilians; examples of videos shot by drones.
Week 2:
3/31 & 4/2
Legal and ethical aspects in the use of drones by media organizations. Guest
speakers may include a government official and a leader in the drone journalism
movement.
Week 3:
4/7 & 4/9
Group presentations: How journalists, advertisers, filmmakers and other media
professionals could use drones; how UAVs might benefit specific types of media
messages.
Week 4:
4/14 & 4/16
Plan white paper. Assign specific tasks and begin assembling our research.
Week 5:
4/21 & 4/23
Wrap up course. Publish the white paper and other research findings our on
public website. Submit comments to the FAA. Take final exam (perhaps as a
take-home test).