As the use of news-gathering drones becomes increasingly popular, evolving rules and regulations are being implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration that could potentially ground them. It’s becoming common practice to use drones to share breaking news and obtain a unique perspective that wouldn’t otherwise be possible, but the legal restrictions haven’t been widely explored.

Avery Holton, assistant professor of communication at the University of Utah and Sean Lawson, assistant professor of communication at the University of Utah recently published an article in Journalism Practice, examining this issue. They can discuss privacy and ethical concerns of drones, FAA rules and regulations for using drones for journalism, what these rules mean for the future of drones as a tool for news gathering and the key benefits for using them.

After more than a decade spent exploring various pathways of journalism, strategic communication and mass communication scholarship, Holton began his academic arc as an assistant professor with the University of Utah in 2013. His research focuses most heavily on digital and social media, journalism and health and disabilities communication. His research, which includes more than 30 published journal articles, multiple book chapters and more than 40 conference presentations, has appeared in Communication Theory, Mass Communication & Society, Journalism Studies and Health Communication among others.

Lawson’s research focuses on the relationship between the histories of science, technology and the development of military theories, doctrines and strategies. He currently has two general project areas. One area explores the way that the U.S. military has enlisted the help of concepts and metaphors from nonlinear sciences like chaos and complexity theories in their attempts to make sense of the information age. The other explores the growing use of new media technologies like blogging and social networking by the U.S. defense establishment, including military and intelligence agencies.