The new journalist tactics involve the use of drones to observe developments the ground from the air and demonstrate the scale of major problems, such as the current migration crisis.
"The correspondent of TV channel Russia Today Mourad Gazdiev sent a drone in the sky over the ruined streets of Homs. A slow, and therefore scary, footage depicting ruins forgotten by God and abandoned by people is suddenly interrupted when at 1:30 you see ‘down there' three children," Der Standard wrote.
On the one hand, the prospect of a bird's-eye view allows you to distance yourself from what is happening on the ground, on the other it helps to realize the scale of the crisis, the article said.
More and more journalists are working with so-called drones or panoramic videos, which also can be viewed in virtual reality glasses. "Images have a powerful impact," the article said.
"Pictures allow us to make things ‘real' (or more ‘real') for the privileged ones and those who simply live in security and prefer to ignore them," American writer Susan Sontag said.
Unlike helicopters, drones are cheap, invisible and far more maneuverable, the newspaper notes. For instance, journalists and activists used them to film demonstrations in Brazil and Venezuela and were able to prove that the protests involved more people than the local authorities announced.
"Flying cameras have expanded the range of possibilities for photographers, civil journalists and paparazzi. Now we all have eyes in the sky, not only the government and intelligence services," Columbia Journalism Review wrote.
At the same time, British journalist Lewis Wilde said that the new technologies allow reporters to gain access to remote areas which are hard to reach by ordinary means of transport.
"It's not about a spectacular footage from the air, but about gaining access to the region, which is impossible to reach on foot," Wilde said.