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(AP) - News Corp., the newspaper publisher and media company, said Friday that it acquired Storyful, a company that gathers user-generated news and video, for $25 million to help it grow its digital and video business.
Storyful, which bills itself as a "news agency of the social media age," finds, verifies and acquires news content that people share online. The company distributes the content to its partners, which include news organizations and advertising agencies.
New York-based News Corp. said its newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, is already a Storyful customer. The company said its acquisition will complement its video offerings, such as WSJ Live and the recently launched BallBall in Asia. Storyful videos generated 750 million views for its partners, News Corp. said.
News Corp.'s acquisition comes at a time when newspaper publishers are increasingly looking for ways to make money from online video. Earlier this month, The E.W. Scripps Co. said it bought Newsy for $35 million. Newsy collects news from newspapers, TV and websites to create video news reports that people can watch online or through the company's apps.
News Corp. said Storyful will remain in Dublin, Ireland where the company was founded in 2008. It will hire additional advertising sales and business development staff that will be based in New York.
Shares of News Corp. rose 30 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $17.51 in afternoon trading Friday.
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