diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 2f77637..75e4888 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "hex",
  "regex",
  "rusqlite",
+ "serde_json",
  "sha3",
  "uuid",
 ]
@@ -339,6 +340,12 @@ version = "1.70.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7943c866cc5cd64cbc25b2e01621d07fa8eb2a1a23160ee81ce38704e97b8ecf"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "itoa"
+version = "1.0.18"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8f42a60cbdf9a97f5d2305f08a87dc4e09308d1276d28c869c684d7777685682"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "js-sys"
 version = "0.3.81"
@@ -487,6 +494,48 @@ version = "1.0.22"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b39cdef0fa800fc44525c84ccb54a029961a8215f9619753635a9c0d2538d46d"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "serde"
+version = "1.0.228"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9a8e94ea7f378bd32cbbd37198a4a91436180c5bb472411e48b5ec2e2124ae9e"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde_core",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_core"
+version = "1.0.228"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "41d385c7d4ca58e59fc732af25c3983b67ac852c1a25000afe1175de458b67ad"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde_derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_derive"
+version = "1.0.228"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d540f220d3187173da220f885ab66608367b6574e925011a9353e4badda91d79"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_json"
+version = "1.0.150"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e8014e44b4736ed0538adeecded0fce2a272f22dc9578a7eb6b2d9993c74cfb9"
+dependencies = [
+ "itoa",
+ "memchr",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_core",
+ "zmij",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "sha3"
 version = "0.10.8"
@@ -802,3 +851,9 @@ dependencies = [
  "quote",
  "syn",
 ]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zmij"
+version = "1.0.21"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b8848ee67ecc8aedbaf3e4122217aff892639231befc6a1b58d29fff4c2cabaa"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index b3ed74d..5b0d0aa 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,5 +10,6 @@ clap = { version = "4.5.48", features = ["derive"] }
 hex = "0.4.3"
 regex = "1.12.2"
 rusqlite = { version = "0.32.1", features = ["bundled"] }
+serde_json = "1.0.132"
 sha3 = "0.10.8"
 uuid = { version = "1.18.1", features = ["v4"] }
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 833bb59..7923c74 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use chrono::Local;
 use clap::{Parser, Subcommand};
+use serde_json::json;
 use std::{
     collections::HashSet,
     env, fs,
@@ -495,11 +496,11 @@ fn record_media_entry(
             title: None,
             visibility: "private".to_string(),
             representation_kind: representation_kind.to_string(),
-            source_metadata_json: format!(
-                r#"{{"requested_locator":"{}","canonical_locator":"{}"}}"#,
-                json_escape(requested_locator),
-                json_escape(canonical_locator)
-            ),
+            source_metadata_json: json!({
+                "requested_locator": requested_locator,
+                "canonical_locator": canonical_locator
+            })
+            .to_string(),
             display_metadata_json: None,
         },
     )?;
@@ -557,11 +558,11 @@ fn record_tweet_entry(
             title: None,
             visibility: "private".to_string(),
             representation_kind: representation_kind.to_string(),
-            source_metadata_json: format!(
-                r#"{{"tweet_id":"{}","requested_locator":"{}"}}"#,
-                json_escape(tweet_id),
-                json_escape(requested_locator)
-            ),
+            source_metadata_json: json!({
+                "tweet_id": tweet_id,
+                "requested_locator": requested_locator
+            })
+            .to_string(),
             display_metadata_json: None,
         },
     )?;
@@ -627,10 +628,6 @@ fn tweet_raw_artifacts(tweet_json: &str) -> Vec<(String, String)> {
     artifacts
 }
 
-fn json_escape(input: &str) -> String {
-    input.replace('\\', "\\\\").replace('"', "\\\"")
-}
-
 fn fail_archive_and_exit(
     conn: &rusqlite::Connection,
     run: &database::ArchiveRun,