Global communications firm Cision has acquired Factmata, a social and news media monitoring startup which topped our MediaTech 50 ranking.
Factmata uses AI to identify and track narratives online through articles, blogs, tweets and other social chatter, highlighting the ones that could either help or hurt brand reputation and value.
“As the communications landscape is rapidly changing, it’s more important than ever as a professional to be able to do more than simply react as news develops,” said Jay Webster, Cision’s chief product & technology officer.
“Factmata’s unique expertise is helping brands and organisations identify risky narratives earlier and more reliably than a human can. This gives its users the ability to see what may be around the corner, rather than simply what is in the rear-view mirror.
“The acquisition of Factmata is a critical step in Cision’s mission to empower communications and PR professionals with AI and narrative detection technology.”
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Factmata applies AI to surface narratives driving online conversations, to detect risky and harmful narratives earlier than a human can, and to identify impactful influencers driving the conversations and understand their stance.
Its stated mission is to make its AI available to ‘everyone who is responsible with the truth to empower them to monitor and protect their own corner of the internet.’
It says the first step in fighting against racism, sexism, disinformation or ‘fake news’ is knowing where it is, who’s creating it, why and how it impacts on a brand or audience.
“We believe our narrative monitoring technology has the potential to change the way brands do business by better understanding themselves through the lens of how media and consumers perceive them,” said Antony Cousins, Factmata CEO.
“Cision will enable us to apply our AI to one of the richest media databases in the world, pioneering a new era of media monitoring for businesses looking to be ahead of the curve.”
Factmata is Cision’s fourth add-on acquisition since Platinum Equity acquired the company in 2020.
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