Drones can provide a bird’s eye view of breaking news and events that can be streamed live or used in edited news coverage. Past research has focused on the training and ethics of journalists and drone operators. Little attention, however, has been given to audiences and their acceptance and perception of ethics. We suggest that audiences who are open to personal technology use will perceive news media using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as more ethical in an extension of the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. In a survey (N = 548) of adults living in the United States, we explore the correlates between trust, technology, privacy, and the use of UAVs. Results suggest all three are positively correlated with openness toward drone journalism. We find the audience has preferences for the types of news stories that should be covered using drones. Participants indicated they welcome drone journalism when covering traffic and investigative stories, but not celebrities and politicians. The findings have implications for newsrooms, suggesting transparency and outreach to educate people on the technology could help build trust. Further, the results suggest that Diffusion of Innovation theory can be applied when mediated through news media.

中文翻译：

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技术，伦理和新闻与公众的关系

无人机可以提供最新新闻和事件的鸟瞰图，这些新闻和事件可以实时流式传输或用于编辑的新闻报道中。过去的研究集中在新闻工作者和无人机操作员的培训和道德操守上。然而，很少有人关注听众及其对道德的接受和理解。我们建议对个人技术开放的听众将使用无人机的新闻媒体视为传播创新理论扩展中的道德规范。在一项针对居住在美国的成年人的调查（N = 548）中，我们探索了信任，技术，隐私和无人机使用之间的相关性。结果表明，这三者与对无人机新闻的开放度呈正相关。我们发现观众对应该使用无人机报道的新闻报道类型有偏爱。与会者表示，他们欢迎无人机新闻报道交通和调查报道，但不欢迎名人和政客。调查结果对新闻编辑室有影响，表明对人们进行技术教育的透明度和外展性可以帮助建立信任。此外，结果表明，当通过新闻媒体进行调解时，可以应用创新扩散理论。