Storyful founder Mark Little has been recruited by Twitter to become VP of media for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, four months after stepping down from his now News Corp-owned content validator service.
His role at Twitter will see Little work with broadcasters, partners and even celebrities to expand audiences by delivering content, with the former RTE reporter saying that he’s “excited” to join an “inspirational” team.
After selling Storyful to News Corp for €18m in 2014, Little remained with the company until July, when he stepped down to focus on newer projects.
Now with Twitter, Little will be based in the company’s EMEA HQ in Dublin, working alongside Stephen McIntyre, VP EMEA Sales and MD of the Dublin office.
Thanks Stephen. Looking forward to it. BTW I like a cup of tea and a biccie at about 11am. Milk. No sugar. https://t.co/2LEnFyZHD6
— mark little (@marklittlenews) November 10, 2015
The background and evolution of Storyful is coloured with opportunism and chance.
In 2010, Little felt the future of journalism was due an imminent change, and left a successful career at RTE where he had been Washington correspondent for the broadcaster.
The interesting thing about Storyful was the number of pivots it made in its short history, beginning as a kind of online news agency – a Reuters of the digital age – before settling on a winning formula of discovering and validating accurate and genuine video content online.
The company has since expanded from 30 people at the time of the acquisition to almost 90 people in Dublin, New York, London, Hong Kong, Atlanta and Sydney.
Twitter, meanwhile, is going through a time of flux, with Jack Dorsey’s recent installation as the company’s CEO bringing around a raft of changes, with 8pc staff cuts worldwide.
Twitter has been my passion for years. Now, it's my job. So excited to join @KatieS and the inspirational Twitter media team.
— mark little (@marklittlenews) November 10, 2015
Twitter image via Prathan Chorruangsak/Shutterstock
