Using drones at the Daily Herald brings the daily news to your homes

Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com

People seem to have a misconception toward people flying drones. We at the Daily Herald and I myself as a photojournalist feel that without them, the news of the day would be a little less exciting.

We don't use them to spy on people, photograph dead bodies at a bad accident or look into people's windows. We use them to bring a fresh perspective to the news happening around your home.

Photographs are, in my opinion, the most important tool one can use to gather news today. The soldiers in Ukraine are using them to locate Russian troops so they can minimize the risk of loss of life. It just makes sense to use a drone.

When breaking news breaks out, Daily Herald photojournalists break out also with rapid response, like the time I was told about a serious accident concerning a flipped dump truck on Route 53 or the Metra train in Hainesville that collided with another dump truck resulting in a fatality.

Most of the time, we can't get to the scene of a serious accident because of the traffic jams that they cause, so we stay within visual range of the drone, get our pictures and transmit them to the newspaper. The drone makes it easier, a whole lot safer for us and less intrusive on the work of authorities doing their jobs, so that we can continue to bring the news of the day to you in a timely manner.