Ethics considerations in digital journalism: Tiny cameras & social analytics

Ethics considerations in

digital journalism: Tiny
cameras & social analytics
Steve Outing

Media futurist, Digital-news innovator | steveouting@gmail.com

http://mediadisruptus.com

Cameras are getting smaller, high quality

Photojournalist Amanda Mustard attaches a GoPro on her DSLR — then combines
video with her best still shots. (Covers Mideast protests.)
LA Times photojournalist uses GoPro

for time-lapse at Oscars Red Carpet

Ethical considerations:

• Live-streaming news event

• GoPro is small; no indication you’re live-streaming

• What if you live-stream someone getting killed,
etc.?

Steve Outing (media futurist, digital-news innovator) • http://mediadisruptus.com • steveouting@gmail.com

GoPro+drone: Go where no camera has gone before

Drone with GoPro:

Only for hobby use currently in U.S.;

other countries less restrictive

• Safety ﬁrst

• Trained, certiﬁed pilot

• Does newsworthiness ever
trump safety, laws/
regulations, privacy
considerations? (e.g., ban on
drones over commercial
agriculture facilities)

Early code of ethics for drone journalism

http://www.dronejournalism.org/code-of-ethics/


Early code of ethics for drone journalism
• NEWSWORTHINESS. The investigation must be of sufficient journalistic importance to
risk using a potentially harmful aerial vehicle. Do not use a drone if the information can be
gathered by other, safer means.

• SAFETY. A drone operator must first be adequately trained in the operation of his or
her equipment. The equipment itself must be in a condition suitable for safe and controlled
flight. Additionally, the drone must not be flown in weather conditions that exceed the
limits of the drone’s ability to operate safely, and it must be flown in a manner that ensures
the safety of the public.

• SANCTITY OF LAW AND PUBLIC SPACES. A drone operator must abide by the
regulations that apply to the airspace where the drone is operated whenever possible. An
exception to this is provided in instances where journalists are unfairly blocked from using
drones to provide critical information in accordance with their duties as members of the
fourth estate. The drone must be operated in a manner which is least disruptive to the
general population in a public setting.

• PRIVACY. The drone must be operated in a fashion that does not needlessly
compromise the privacy of non-public figures. If at all possible, record only images of
activities in public spaces, and censor or redact images of private individuals in private
spaces that occur beyond the scope of the investigation.

• TRADITIONAL ETHICS. As outlined by professional codes of conduct for journalists.

Really small, ‘invisible’ cameras used for news

Narrative lifeblogging clip
camera: Takes still photo

every 30 seconds; store to

smartphone.

5 megapixel photos.

$279

Autographer lifeblogging clip camera:

Has sensors to guess when is best time to take

a photo. GPS; temperature; accelerometer;

color/light detection.

5 megapixel photos.

$399


•
•
•
•

Looxcie VIDEO wearable:
Tiny. Capable of live-streaming.

Clips to clothing. Still photos, too.

30-second buffer save.

$99

Also, HD over-ear version $199

People won’t realize that you’re taking photos

Narrative small enough to be made “invisible”

How unobtrusive is TOO unobtrusive?

Invasion of privacy? Or acceptable?


Even more intrusive? Smart glasses

Google Glass
Photos, video, microphone, speaker, augmented
reality display, live-streaming possible.
Initial price: $?????


Pivothead Sport Smartglasses
Photos, video, microphone.

Face-tracking. Time stamp.

Burst-mode photo. Time-lapse capable.
$279

• Great journalistic tool, but too intrusive?

• When is it necessary to alert people you are recording
images or audio?

• Live-streaming code of conduct?

• When facial recognition is a capability of smart glasses?


Soon: Appearance like regular eyeglasses
Meta Pro Smart Glasses
Camera, microphone, speaker,
augmented-reality display.

Available summer 2014
Initial price: $3,000


New topic: Ability to identify eyewitnesses

with social-media data analysis technology

Dataminr, a data vendor for Twitter, recently announced a

service for newsrooms that will identify clusters of tweets

on a single topic that identify a breaking news event.

!

CNN has been the guinea pig, and Dataminr will start licensing
the service to any newsroom sometime soon.

!

A journalist using this would be able to identify people who

are witnesses, and the tool has features to dive deeper

and learn about the eyewitnesses, ﬁnd their posts

and photos on other social networks, etc.


Example of Dataminr user dashboard

New Twitter Tool Finds
Hot Topics Before
They Trend


Dataminr News is a handy tool. Any concerns?
• Creepy or OK? Journalist contacts you out of the blue at news
scene?

• Creepy or OK? Journalist knows quite a bit about you already.

• Acceptable? Publishing photos from eyewitnesses at the scene.
… I.e., grabbing off Twitter, Instagram, etc. (If you can’t reach
them.)

• Rules/guidelines for getting permission to publish tweets, photos,
video from at-the-scene eyewitnesses?

• Should eyewitnesses used in this way be paid?

• Veriﬁcation rules before publishing eyewitness content
purportedly from the scene? (e.g., GPS spooﬁng could fool you.)


Find this presentation on the web

http://www.slideshare.net/steveouting1/


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