Important Update: Database Switchover on December 7, 2023

Important Update: Database Switchover on December 7, 2023

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As outlined in previous communications, Media Cloud has been working hard with our partners at Code for Africa on developing a new backend database system that can accommodate the large volume of news data we have collected over more than a decade. Please be aware of the following important considerations pertaining to data collection on or after December 7, 2023:

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• It is possible that the system will be temporarily unavailable on or around the date of December 7 while this switchover takes place.

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• Initially, only recent data will be accessible, but this will expand quickly over time. We will add updates on the tool interface when additional dates become available for search. 

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• API keys from the old Media Cloud system will no longer work or return any data. A new API will eventually be available in early 2024 for the new system. 

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If you have a project that you are currently working on that requires further data collection, we advise that you finish it prior to December 7 to bolster internal consistency in your data. The new database will be built on updated methods for searching, content extraction, date guessing, de-duplication, and more, making it challenging to analyze directly against results from the previous datasets.

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With questions about this switchover, please contact us at support@mediacloud.org.