Changing Perspective: Balancing Drone Journalism Rights and Rights to Privacy

• In Event: The Right to Speak and the Right to Remain Private

Abstract

This article details the changing nature of the reasonable expectation of privacy within the new culture of surveillance. The authors discuss the development of the right to privacy as balanced against the First Amendment right to gather information. The article concludes with two key recommendations: 1) professional journalism associations should adopt robust privacy guidelines for the use of drones for newsgathering purposes; and 2) current tort law should be overhauled to provide a more flexible approach to determining the plaintiff's reasonable expectation of privacy. This hybrid approach will fill in gaps in the current privacy paradigm without hindering the newsgathering process or stifling the innovation of new technologies.

Authors

• Courtney Barclay, Jacksonville University

• Kearston Wesner, U of Minnesota - Duluth