Storyful's Clinch Spots Fake News For Brands

Storyful may be best known as a service mixing technology and editors to help news organization verify genuine online video from the fake stuff.

But now the outfit, acquired by News Corp in 2013, is also turning its expertise toward brand content.

Storyful these days doesn't just help news orgs - it also helps advertisers and their agencies verify and license user-uploaded content for their creative campaigns.

And, just like news, says global news editor David Clinch, that, too, needs careful analysis.

"When we started seven years ago, the whole challenge of verifying content in video related to international news - the Arab Spring and other things," Clinch tells Beet.TV in this video interview.

"It’s not just news, or video - it’s everything. Brands need to make sure they’re not being fooled by fake news.

"We need to make sure our brand and marketing partners are getting verified content."

In November, as concern about online fake news reached fever pitch, Storyful launched Verify, a Chrome browser extension designed to easily indicate whether an in-browser video has been verified by Storyful.

Clinch says that can be used by journalists, consumers or marketers.

"We’ve moved beyond hard news, in to rights clearance, management and licensing of video," he says.

"Now, seven years later, the challenge of verification is probably greater than it ever has been."