# Democracy Now! Transcript Scraper (`jungle_synthesizer/democracy-now-transcripts-scraper`) Actor Scrapes segment transcripts from Democracy Now!, the daily independent news program. Extracts full transcripts with speaker labels, guest info, topics, and CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license metadata. Supports date-range crawling and individual episode URLs. - **URL**: https://apify.com/jungle\_synthesizer/democracy-now-transcripts-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [BowTiedRaccoon](https://apify.com/jungle_synthesizer) (community) - **Categories:** News, AI - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Democracy Now! Transcript Scraper Extract full transcripts from [Democracy Now!](https://www.democracynow.org) — the daily independent news program broadcast since 1996. Each record contains the complete segment transcript with speaker labels, guest names and bios, topic tags, duration, and Creative Commons license metadata. All content is published by Democracy Now! under **CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US** (Attribution, NonCommercial, NoDerivatives). License fields are emitted on every record. ### What You Get Each output record represents one segment from the daily show: | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `show_date` | Episode date (YYYY-MM-DD) | | `segment_title` | Segment headline | | `segment_slug` | URL slug (e.g. `trump_elections`) | | `segment_url` | Canonical page URL | | `segment_order` | Position within the day's show (1-based) | | `duration_seconds` | Segment length in seconds | | `hosts` | Show hosts (comma-separated) | | `guests` | Guest names (comma-separated) | | `guest_descriptors` | Guest biographical descriptions | | `topics` | Tagged topics (comma-separated) | | `body_text` | Full plain-text transcript with speaker labels | | `body_html` | Original transcript HTML with speaker spans | | `speakers` | Unique speaker labels extracted from transcript | | `related_segment_urls` | Related segment links | | `cc_license` | `CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US` | | `cc_license_url` | Link to the CC license | | `source` | `democracynow.org` | | `scraped_at` | ISO 8601 scrape timestamp | ### Sample Output ```json { "show_date": "2026-05-08", "segment_slug": "trump_elections", "segment_url": "https://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/8/trump_elections", "segment_title": "Trump Pushes to Take Over Elections, Punish His Enemies: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Reporter Ned Parker", "segment_summary": "A new Reuters investigation details how the Trump administration is seeking federal control over elections in at least eight states...", "segment_order": 1, "duration_seconds": 1127, "hosts": "Amy Goodman", "guests": "Ned Parker", "guest_descriptors": "Reuters investigative reporter.", "topics": "Voting, Donald Trump, 2020 Election, Arizona, Georgia", "body_text": "AMY GOODMAN: Tennessee's Republican-dominated state Legislature...", "speakers": "AMY GOODMAN, NED PARKER", "cc_license": "CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US", "cc_license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/", "source": "democracynow.org", "scraped_at": "2026-05-11T09:39:30.311Z" } ```` ### Input Options | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | |-----------|------|---------|-------------| | `startDate` | string | `2026-05-08` | Start date (YYYY-MM-DD) | | `endDate` | string | `2026-05-08` | End date (YYYY-MM-DD) | | `maxItems` | integer | 10 | Maximum records to return | **Date range crawl:** Set `startDate` and `endDate` to crawl a span of days. For a 30-year backfill, the site has ~50,000 total segment records — set `maxItems: 0` for no cap. **Note:** Democracy Now! broadcasts Monday–Friday. Weekend dates return no segments. ### License Notice Democracy Now! publishes all original content under **Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US)**: - Attribution required — credit Democracy Now! - Non-commercial use only - No derivatives — content may not be modified and redistributed Research, academic, indexing, and editorial reuse with attribution is permitted. Commercial training-data products incorporating the raw transcripts require separate permission from Democracy Now! This license is more restrictive than CC BY-SA — confirm your use case before bulk extraction. ### Performance - **No proxy required** — Democracy Now! is openly accessible with no bot protection - **Concurrency:** 3 concurrent requests (~1 req/sec, courteous default) - **Throughput:** ~240 segments/hour at default concurrency - **Memory:** 256 MB ### Use Cases - Academic and journalistic corpus construction (CC license makes attribution clear) - Political science and media studies research - Speaker diarization training data (clean `NAME:` turn boundaries) - Topic modeling and trend analysis (structured topic tags since 1996) - Archival and preservation pipelines ### Need More Features? File an issue or contact us at [orbtop.com](https://orbtop.com) — we're happy to add fields, extend date-range support, or build a custom variant for your use case. # Actor input Schema ## `sp_intended_usage` (type: `string`): Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler. ## `sp_improvement_suggestions` (type: `string`): Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements. ## `sp_contact` (type: `string`): Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of transcript segments to scrape. Use 0 for no limit. ## `startDate` (type: `string`): Start date for crawl range (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to today's date. ## `endDate` (type: `string`): End date for crawl range (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to today's date. ## Actor input object example ```json { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "startDate": "2026-05-08", "endDate": "2026-05-08" } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "startDate": "2026-05-08", "endDate": "2026-05-08" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/democracy-now-transcripts-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "startDate": "2026-05-08", "endDate": "2026-05-08", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/democracy-now-transcripts-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 10, "startDate": "2026-05-08", "endDate": "2026-05-08" }' | apify call jungle_synthesizer/democracy-now-transcripts-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=jungle_synthesizer/democracy-now-transcripts-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Democracy Now! Transcript Scraper", "description": "Scrapes segment transcripts from Democracy Now!, the daily independent news program. Extracts full transcripts with speaker labels, guest info, topics, and CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license metadata. Supports date-range crawling and individual episode URLs.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "swF7PmunyZqqtVJJr" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~democracy-now-transcripts-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-jungle_synthesizer-democracy-now-transcripts-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~democracy-now-transcripts-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-jungle_synthesizer-democracy-now-transcripts-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~democracy-now-transcripts-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-jungle_synthesizer-democracy-now-transcripts-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "maxItems" ], "properties": { "sp_intended_usage": { "title": "What is the intended usage of this data?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler." }, "sp_improvement_suggestions": { "title": "How can we improve this crawler for you?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements." }, "sp_contact": { "title": "Contact Email", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you." }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of transcript segments to scrape. Use 0 for no limit.", "default": 10 }, "startDate": { "title": "Start Date", "type": "string", "description": "Start date for crawl range (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to today's date." }, "endDate": { "title": "End Date", "type": "string", "description": "End date for crawl range (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to today's date." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```