Creative & technical
Backup for media companies that cannot lose a story or a source
Mindtime keeps immutable copies of your editorial mail and Drive, the newsroom NAS, CMS servers and reporters' laptops in its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. An air-gapped copy stays separate, so an attack on the newsroom cannot erase the archive too.
In Dutch, German or English.
- NL · DEStored only in our own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany
- ImmutableObject Lock storage plus an air-gapped copy; every backup job is checked
- ISO 27001 · NEN 7510Audited security, with a data processing agreement in every contract
- NL · DE · ENSupport from people, no offshore call centres or chatbots
In short
Media companies need backups they control, because unpublished stories, source correspondence and raw footage cannot be recreated and some of it must stay confidential. Mindtime copies Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, newsroom storage, CMS servers and laptops into its own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany, where backups are immutable and one copy is air-gapped.
What's at stake
The data media companies can't afford to lose
Stories in progress and the published archive
Drafts, research notes and the archive behind your website are years of editorial work. If the CMS database or the newsroom drive is lost, so is the record of what you published and when.
Correspondence with sources
Mail, notes and recordings from sources are some of the most sensitive data you hold. You need them recoverable, and you need to know exactly who can reach the copies.
Footage, audio and photo masters
Raw rushes, interviews and original photos are often the only copy of a moment. Once a disk fails or ransomware encrypts the edit storage, there is no reshoot.
Rules and obligations
What the rules ask of media companies
Summarised from the sources listed at the bottom of this page. This is general information, not legal advice.
Journalists may protect their sources
Under Article 218a of the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure, journalists and publicists may refuse to answer questions that would reveal a source. The Public Prosecution Service guideline adds that seizing journalistic material needs the involvement of the examining magistrate (rechter-commissaris). [1]
Film and photographic works are protected
The Dutch Copyright Act lists film works and photographic works among protected works in Article 10. Your archive of footage and photos is an asset you own or hold under licence, so it deserves the same care as your financial records. [2]
A newsroom breach can be reportable
Subscriber lists, contributor details and source data are personal data. When ransomware or a lost device puts their availability or confidentiality at risk, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens expects a report within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach. [3]
NIS2 lists platforms, not publishers
Under the Cyberbeveiligingswet, the digital providers sector covers online marketplaces, search engines and social networks. Publishers, broadcasters and production companies are not listed as such, so most media companies fall outside the Dutch NIS2 law. [4]
When it goes wrong
Friday night, the newsroom NAS goes dark
Illustrative example: on a Friday evening the NAS of a regional news publisher is encrypted, together with the USB disk the editors used for weekly copies. The weekend edition, the photo archive and a folder of interview recordings are suddenly unreadable. The publisher's Mindtime backups are immutable and one copy is air-gapped, so they are untouched. After a malware scan, the editors restore the files they need first into an isolated environment and decide with their privacy officer whether the incident must be reported.
How Mindtime protects it
Backup for media companies, workload by workload
- Google Workspace backupEditorial mail and shared story folders often live in Gmail and Drive.
- NAS backupFootage, audio and photo archives usually sit on newsroom or edit-suite NAS devices.
- Laptop and endpoint backupReporters file from the field on laptops that hold notes and recordings nobody else has.
- Linux server backupSelf-hosted websites and CMS platforms commonly run on Linux servers.
- Database backupA CMS keeps every article in a MySQL, MariaDB or PostgreSQL database.
- Disaster RecoveryA publication has to keep publishing while its own servers are being rebuilt.
The software you use, and what we protect around it
| WordPress | A WordPress site consists of files on the web server plus a MySQL or MariaDB database. If it runs on your own Linux server, Mindtime backs up that server and the database; with managed hosting, check what the host keeps. |
|---|---|
| DaVinci Resolve (Blackmagic Design) | Projects live in project libraries, locally, on a shared database or in Blackmagic Cloud. Mindtime backs up the workstations, servers and NAS that hold your libraries and media; for Blackmagic Cloud, check its retention terms. |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Project files and media on editing workstations or shared storage are covered by Mindtime's endpoint and NAS backup. |
| Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive) | Many editorial teams plan, write and share in Google. Mindtime keeps a copy of Gmail and Drive outside Google, in its own Dutch and German data centres. |
| Synology or QNAP NAS | Edit storage and photo archives often sit on one NAS. Mindtime keeps an off-site, immutable copy of it. |
Google Workspace
Google Workspace backup for media companies
Editorial teams use Gmail for contacts with sources and contributors, Drive for drafts and shared folders for each desk or production. Google's trash and Vault serve everyday recovery and legal holds; neither is an independent backup of the newsroom.
- Drive deletes items in the trash automatically after 30 days, and an admin can recover items for 25 days after a user empties the trash.
- If a user is deleted, all data associated with the account is removed from Google; an admin can restore that user's Drive files within 20 days.
- Vault, Google says in its own FAQ, isn't designed to be a backup or archive tool.
- Mindtime copies Gmail and Drive to its own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany, and a 7-day free trial lets you test a restore first.
Before you switch
What media companies ask us first
Can we trust an outside party with source material?
Ask where the data is, who can reach it and under what contract. With Mindtime it stays in its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany, admin actions need MFA and every contract includes a data processing agreement.
Our archive is far too large to back up.
Start with what you cannot recreate: unpublished work, source material and the CMS. Book a free 15-minute demo and Mindtime's own staff will go through your storage with you and propose a set-up.
We already sync everything to Google Drive.
Sync copies mistakes as faithfully as it copies work, so a deletion or encryption reaches every synced device. A separate, immutable backup in Mindtime's data centres stays untouched when that happens.
FAQ
Questions about backup for media companies
Why should a newsroom back up Google Workspace?
Because Google's protection follows the account. If a reporter's account is hijacked or deleted, the trash and recovery windows run out within weeks, and Vault is not built to restore data at scale. Mindtime keeps an independent copy of Gmail and Drive in its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany.
Do reporters' laptops need a backup if they work in the cloud?
Yes. Reporters record interviews, take notes offline and keep drafts locally while travelling, and that work is often not synced until much later. A stolen or broken laptop then takes it with it. Mindtime backs up Windows, macOS and Linux laptops to its own data centres, so a replacement device can be restored from the latest checked backup.
How does Mindtime handle ransomware on edit storage?
Backups are immutable through Object Lock and an air-gapped copy is kept separately, so ransomware on your network cannot alter them. Mindtime scans backups for malware and restores into an isolated environment, which keeps the infection from returning when you bring files back.
Can we keep publishing while our servers are down?
That is what disaster recovery is for. Mindtime keeps standby infrastructure ready to run your servers in its own data centre. The first test failover typically takes place within 10 days of starting, and quarterly DR tests show that it still works.
How do we get started?
Try Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 backup free for 7 days, or book a free 15-minute demo for the NAS, servers and laptops. Support comes from Mindtime's own staff in Dutch, German or English, never from an offshore call centre or a chatbot.
See it with your own data
Book a 15-minute demo
We show you a backup and a restore, and answer your questions in Dutch, German or English. No offshore call centres, no chatbots.