Storyful is now part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire. News Corp, the group which owns and operates media brands such as Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, has acquired the Ireland-based social news agency Storyful. The said deal is valued at €18 million ($25 million), according to VentureBeat.
The social news startup's services are valuable to media firms because they not only help surface hot user-generated news, but they also validate the contents. Storyful uses a combination of technical information like geolocation and editorial insight to verify content on social media sites. The firm has yet to implement a verification system for Instagram, the report explained.
Storyful Chief Executive Officer Mark Little said of the transaction: "By joining forces with News Corp, Storyful can quickly transform its vision into a global reality. We believe that journalism in the age of social media needs to be open, innovative and collaborative, and so does the business model that will sustain it."
Under the terms of the said deal, Storyful will retain its main office in Dublin and will operate as a standalone entity within News Corp. The latter plans to hire further Storyful sales and business development staff in New York, VentureBeat reported.
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