Yesterday, CNN announced that it had struck a deal with the feds that represents some progress for those interested in using drones for journalism:

CNN has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRDA) with the Federal Aviation Administration to advance efforts to integrate Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) into newsgathering and reporting.

The cooperation arrangement will integrate efforts from CNN’s existing research partnership with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). Coordination between and among CNN, GTRI and the FAA has already begun. The FAA will use data collected from this initiative to formulate a framework for various types of UAVs to be safely integrated into newsgathering operations.

Some folks reported on this as if it meant you’d be seeing CNN drone footage any day now. (“After months of studying drones as a news reporting tool, CNN just struck a deal with the Federal Aviation Administration today, meaning lots of eye-in-the-sky Wolf Blitzer segments are forthcoming.” “Drones are going to help CNN bring you the news.” “CNN gets go-ahead to use drones in newsgathering.”) But Matt Waite and other drone journalism aficionados cautioned that the deal isn’t as broad as some are making it seem:

@abitofhabib False. They will not be allowed to use them for news. Only at a test site. And not for broadcast.

— Matt Waite (@mattwaite) January 12, 2015

@ericseals @travelinreid It's a data sharing agreement only. They can't use them for news. Only testing at a range. COA still required.

— Matt Waite (@mattwaite) January 13, 2015

@rcalo @CNN Not a grant "to use." Approval is for public university-based testing under a COA. Same not allowed at private universities.

— Brendan Schulman (@dronelaws) January 12, 2015

@gizmag No they didn't. Research/testing.

— Brendan Schulman (@dronelaws) January 13, 2015