Drones are now a billion-dollar industry, and the National Press Photographers Association wants to create formal policies regarding their use in news coverage.

"It's never been more important to communicate about our practices and why we do the things we do in journalism," said report co-author Kathleen Bartzen Culver. "Drones are just one opportunity to be open with the public and help gain credibility and build trust. These results show journalists are thoughtful about when and how to use drones. That's a story we should be telling."

Drone sales are projected to reach $1 billion in revenue this year, or 3.4 million units—an 8 percent increase over 2017, according to the Consumer Technology Association. In newsrooms, privacy and injuries are potential issues that may shape an overall drone policy from the NPPA.

The opinion was released in a white paper entitled, "Drones in the News: Journalist Conceptions and Public Engagement," and was co-sponsored by the Center for Journalism Ethics and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In it, 92 journalists around the country were surveyed on drone use, and while a third of the respondents reported no in-house policy regarding drone coverage in newsrooms, the favorite topics for coverage were on weather and traffic, outdoor activities and investigative news stories. Coverage of celebrities and politicians received the lowest amount of support from the respondents.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration oversees drone flights and has issued more than 100,000 remote pilot certificates in the last two years. Critics say that FAA regulations inhibit the growth of the industry, including the "line of sight" rule that requires an operator to keep their drone within their visual scope in the air.

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