NewsBreak API Publisher

An API for publishing articles to NewsBreak. This script handles the complete publishing workflow including draft creation, image upload, content updates, NLP metrics calculation, and final publication.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9+(?) newer is better
• Required Python packages (install via pip):

  pip install -r requirements.txt 

Configuration

The script can be configured in three ways, in order of precedence:

1. Command-line arguments (highest priority)
2. JSON configuration file
3. Default values (lowest priority)

Environment Variables

The script requires authentication cookies which should be set as environment variables. To set these up, create a .env file based on the provided .env.example file. You can do this by copying the example file and filling in the correct values. Find the auth cookies/headers you need for your specific organizations by:

1. Logging into your NewsBreak Contributor Platform.
2. Navigate to "Write an Article".
3. Open the browser console and navigate to "Network".
4. Type anything into the empty article content, then watch a POST request called draft be sent out.
5. Copy the headers and cookies directly, or you can also copy the cURL request that is sent out.
6. All done!

Usage

Basic Usage

python newsbreak_api.py --title "My Article Title" --content-file "article.txt"

Using a Configuration File for uploading an article

Create a JSON configuration file (e.g., config.json):

{
    "title": "My Article Title",
    "author_name": "John Doe",
    "author_url": "example.com",
    "article_credit": "Special Report",
    "content_file": "article.txt",
    "image_file": "image.jpg",
    "image_link": "https://example.com/image.jpg",
    "image_credit": "Photo by John Doe"
}

Then run:

python newsbreak_api.py --config config.json

Using Command-line Arguments for uploading an article

Argument	Description	Default Value
--title	Article title	"Draft content..."
--author-name	Author's name	"Temp author"
--author-url	Author's URL	"harvard.edu"
--article-credit	Article byline/credit	"Temp byline..."
--image-link	URL of the image	Default NewsBreak image
--image-credit	Image credit text	"testing_credit!"
--content-file	Path to article content file	"./fake-content.txt"
--image-file	Path to image file to upload	"./crimson.jpg"
--config	Path to JSON config file	None

File Requirements

Content File

• Plain text file containing the article content (markdown support incoming)
• UTF-8 encoded
• Must exist and not be empty

Image File

• Supported formats: JPEG, PNG
• Must exist for upload purposes!! and be readable

Publishing Process

The script performs the following steps:

1. Creates a draft article
2. Uploads the specified image
3. Updates the article content
4. Calculates NLP metrics
5. Publishes the article

Example Commands

1. Basic usage with minimal parameters:

python newsbreak_api.py --title "Breaking News" --content-file "news.txt"

2. Full command-line configuration:

python newsbreak_api.py \
    --title "Breaking News" \
    --author-name "Jane Smith" \
    --author-url "newsorg.com" \
    --article-credit "Special Report" \
    --content-file "article.txt" \
    --image-file "photo.jpg" \
    --image-link "https://newsorg.com/photo.jpg" \
    --image-credit "Photo by Jane Smith"

3. Using a config file:

python newsbreak_api.py --config my_article_config.json

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

1. Session Expired

   • Error: "Session expired - received HTML login page"
   • Solution: Refresh your authentication cookies

2. File Not Found

   • Error: "Content file not found" or "Could not find image file"
   • Solution: Verify file paths and permissions

3. Empty Content

   • Error: "Content file is empty"
   • Solution: Ensure your content file contains article text