Protocols for Business SIG: Field Journalism in Drone Warfare Era

The SIGPfB group held a logistics meeting to onboard Bel, a war correspondent with 15 years covering global conflicts including Yemen, Syria, Libya, Ukraine, Gaza, and Lebanon. The meeting was conducted via Google Meet due to Discord's high friction for external guests (requiring account creation and CAPTCHAs). The primary discussion centered on how drone warfare, particularly FPV drones, has fundamentally altered field protocols and behavioral practices for journalists in conflict zones. Unlike traditional artillery threats, FPV drones create a persistent vertical threat requiring constant awareness of appearance from above, necessitating new vehicle selection strategies, pre-planned exit routes, and tactical use of terrain and netting for concealment.

Key points

• FPV drones fundamentally changed field journalist behavior by creating a persistent threat from above, requiring constant consideration of vertical visibility and establishing new hiding/exit route protocols distinct from traditional artillery zone survival tactics.
• Platform friction significantly impacts external participation; Discord's account creation and CAPTCHA requirements made it unsuitable for guest access, leading to a recommendation to use Zoom or Google Meet for future sessions.
• Drone warfare has introduced new tactical factors including vehicle camouflage choices (civilian 'rubbish cars' vs. armored vehicles), weather-dependent safety planning, and use of fiber-optic netting corridors as cover.
• Harmonica presents a middle-ground deliberative tool between shallow scalable surveys (Google Forms) and deep but hard-to-scale facilitated workshops (Miro), with Artem available to customize it for the group's needs.