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# How Journalists Use youtube-dl
- URL: https://birchtree.me/blog/how-journalists-use-youtube-dl/
- Published: 2020-10-30T11:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2020-10-30T11:30:00.000Z
- Author: Matt Birchler
- Tags: Links, #Import 2023-06-01 22:41, #Import 2025-03-29 19:29

[Music industry forces widely used journalist tool offline](https://freedom.press/news/riaa-github-youtube-dl-journalist-tool/?ref=birchtree.me)

> In fact, youtube-dl is a powerful general purpose media tool that allows users to make local copies of media from a very broad range of sites. That versatility has secured it a place in the toolkits of many reporters, newsroom developers, and archivists. For now, the code remains available to download through youtube-dl's own site, but the disruption of its development hub and the RIAA saber-rattling jeopardizes both the future of the software and the myriad journalistic workflows that depend on it.

youtube-dl is an invaluable tool. I actually use it mostly to pull thumbnails for videos I feature in my newsletter, and sometimes to make a personal archive of some videos that I would be very sad if they dropped off YouTube for any reason (not illicit uploads, mind you, things like noclip video game documentaries and the like).