SPJ invites Club members to discussion on drones, privacy, media; June 17

Prying eyes in the sky or news you can use?

Join the Society of Professional Journalists D.C. chapter at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17 for a panel discussion about the First Amendment, privacy and other implications of news-media use of drones.

The Specialized Information Publishers Association plans to host the event at the Software & Information Industry Association, the parent of the Specialized Information Publishers Association, at 1090 Vermont Ave. NW, in the sixth-floor boardroom: Admission is $5 for SPJ and National Press Club members, $10 for the public. Because space is limited, make sure to RSVP to Jonathan Make of the SPJ D.C. chapter by June 8, at [email protected].

Areas of discussion plan to include a consideration of the First-Amendment rights of private citizens and companies to gather public information through drones, the privacy implications of such activities, and the ways different types of media wish to use drones. Also, on the agenda is a discussion of a multi-stakeholder privacy proceeding on drones ongoing at the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications & Information Administration, and the Federal Aviation Administration’s rulemaking, waiver and other proceedings on civilian use of drones.

Jonathan Make, managing editor of Warren Communications News publications including Communications Daily, plans to moderate the discussion.

The scheduled panelists are:

• Harley Geiger, senior counsel of the Center for Democracy and Technology, which has some concerns about drone privacy;


• Bob Corn Revere, a First-Amendment lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine, who represents media companies interested in using drones;


• Michael Drobac, executive director of the Small UAV Coalition, which represents drone manufacturers; and


• Mike Cavender, executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Association, representing broadcasters seeking to use drones in news coverage.