diff --git a/beat/web/common/storage.py b/beat/web/common/storage.py
index 8cd096574c01547e6e09b0457da9329a100a7234..0ce2d8c3e411d84d74217062c970dc971661ae7b 100755
--- a/beat/web/common/storage.py
+++ b/beat/web/common/storage.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class OverwriteStorage(FileSystemStorage):
 # ----------------------------------------------------------
 
 
-def get_file_content(instance, attr):
+def get_file_content(instance, attr, binary=False):
     """Reads the contents of a Django-FileField attribute
 
     Parameters:
@@ -81,8 +81,12 @@ def get_file_content(instance, attr):
     if f is None:
         return ""
 
+    mode = "rt"
+    if binary:
+        mode = "rb"
+
     try:
-        f.open()
+        f.open(mode)
     except Exception:
         return ""