News drones

Imagine if journalists had airborne camera drones at the Marikana Massacre or during any of the recent service delivery protests ...

Now, imagine what your newsroom could do with news drones during the May elections.

Drones are remote-controlled quadcopters or small fixed-wing aircraft or ballon dirigibles that allow journalists to film fast moving events like riots, floods or wars from the air. Drones also give the media access to isolated areas that would ordinarily be inaccessible to journalists, and also allow journalists to use infra-red cameras to investigate things like rhino poaching or cross-border smuggling.

So, what does it take to establish a drone unit in an African newsroom? Ben Kreimer, from the US-based University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications, will share insights and ideas from his time helping the Star newspaper in Kenya establish the continent's first newsroom-based drone team. Ben will speak at a brown-bag lunch at Hacks/Hackers in Johannesburg on Saturday, and again at an evening meetup at Hacks/Hackers in Cape Town on Monday night.

Ben is in South Africa on a "flying visit" to gauge whether local newsrooms would be interested in setting up pilot drone units ahead of the elections. If so, the africanDRONE initiative will help bring Ben back to South Africa for a couple of weeks ahead of the elections, along with equipment and training support. africanDRONE is an African News Innovation Challenge project, designed to improve reaction times and expand the reach of journalists who cannot afford full-blown helicopters or aircraft. africanDRONE has established its first permanent drone unit in Nairobi, as the Star's skyCAM team, and intends targeting South Africa and Nigeria next.

Come meet Ben if you're interested in pioneering camera drones in South Africa.

The Johannesburg brown-bag lunch will take place at Jozihub, at 44 Stanley, at 2pm on Saturday. Hacks/Hackers will provide a choice of sandwiches / wraps, along with softdrinks and beers.

The Cape Town meetup will take place at Codebridge, at 7pm on Monday night. Hacks/Hackers will provide pizzas and beer / wine / softdrinks.

RSVP as soon as possible to secure a seat.