Tag Archives: Mark Little

Mark Little of disinfo agency Kinzen

Sunday.

The Business Post reported that The Department of Health is paying Kinzen, an Irish media tech start-up, to identify online misinformation related to Covid-19 and the Covid-19 vaccines.

Via The Business Post:

The work, which began earlier this year and consists of almost daily briefings from Kinzen to state officials, marks the first time the department has engaged the services of a third-party company to conduct work on misinformation. It is also believed to be the first time a government body in Ireland has paid a third-party company for this type of work.

Kinzen, founded by former RTÉ news journalist Mark Little and Aine Kerr in 2018, promotes itself as a service which can track disinformation campaigns online. It says it has developed its own automatic speech recognition (ASR) system which can sift through audio and video content to highlight “high risk” material. It combines this with a language model it feeds with terms which are relevant to searching for potential misinformation.

…Little said the work with the Department of Health was entirely “research-driven” and did not involve the company’s scoring system which rates content depending on the level of “risk” identified.

…Little said that all credit for Ireland’s successful rollout of the vaccine should go to public health workers and the Irish people. He said Kinzen was proud to have supported the Department of Health.

“Our role was to bring a global perspective on disinformation to the Irish environment,” he said.

“By helping public health communicators stay ahead of campaigns of disinformation, we hope we helped flatten the curve of an infodemic that deepened the impact of the Covid-19 crisis in other countries.”

Not all heroes deploy tasteless metaphors.

Kinzen briefing the Department of Health on Covid-19 online misinformation (Business Post)

Pic via Mark Little

Yesterday

Today

CEO of Neva Labs Mark Little

Further to the alleged data breach at Independent News and Media.

And Data Commissioner Helen Dixon stating she will appear at an INM-sponsored data protection conference in Dublin’s RDS next week…despite Ms Dixon investigating INM’s alleged data breach…

The Irish Times, is reporting that Mark Little – who was scheduled to be a speaker at the event – has pulled out.

Mr Little, now chief executive of digital media company Neva Labs, said that he was due to participate as unpaid panellist at the INM conference speaking about broader issues around privacy and how people can regain control of their personal data from large corporations.

“I am not going to do this on Monday,” he told The Irish Times. “As far as I am concerned there is a conflict of interest for me as a journalist.”

Data regulator to speak at INM event despite investigation (The Irish Times)

Yesterday: At The Data Summit

Mark-Little-presenting-Storyful-in-Seoul

Storyful founder Mark Little

Kidding!

Family.

And stuff.

“…So why would anyone of right mind step away from this kind of turbo-charged business? It’s hard to explain to those who haven’t lived the startup life. There comes a time when your continuing benefit to your company is outweighed by the personal cost of not moving on to the next challenge.

Perhaps the parents out there will understand a secondary reality. I’ve reached that sad but glad understanding that my precious little baby is all growed up and doesn’t need me anymore.

I’m leaving Storyful with no absolute certainty about what I’m doing next. But that’s a pretty wonderful feeling. Back in 2010, there was only one opportunity that excited me. Today, in a golden age of storytelling, the options are endless. I’m more passionate than ever about social journalism, media innovation and the challenges and opportunities that emerge from a revolutionary age.

I’m exhilarated by what might come next. But as I look back, I am also profoundly grateful today to all the idealists who made Storyful a reality.”

Mark Little, announcing his resignation from Storyful, the news gathering agency he founded and sold to News Corp for an amount described as ‘large’.

Mark Little on leaving Storyful, stronger than ever (Storyful)

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Mark Little (top) and Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club (1985)

 Little!

Ringwald!

Bannon.

Bee stung-lipped Brat Pack goddess Molly Ringwald and cash giddy Storyful founder Mark ‘Jammy’ Little join host Brendan O’Connor on The Saturday Night Show tomorrow night on RTÉ 1 at 9.50pm.

Plus Love/Hate’s Tommy KD (aka Thomas Kiernan Dunne); Room to Improve presenter Dermot Bannon, and Skulduggery Pleasant author Derek Landy.

Packed show, in fairness.

Previously: Storyful, Eh? I’ll Remember That Name

Thanks Melanie O’Connor

Top pic: Storyful

storyful

[Storyful founder Mark Little]

“Facebook is launching a new service called FB Newswire featuring hand-picked, journalist-verified stories that will be powered by Irish company Storyful….”

To the begrudgery sticks.

Fair play though, in fairness.

Meanwhile, our talks with Bebo have fallen through again.

Storyful to power Facebook’s new FB Newswire service (SiliconRepublic)

Bb8DmkhIcAEeuDW-1storyful

[Rupert Murdoch and Smithers, top and, above Storyful founder Ned Flanders Mark ‘Moneybags’ Little]

News Corp has just announced that it is acquiring Storyful, a Ireland-based “village square” for social media news, aggregating stories found on social media networks like Twitter and Instagram and Facebook, and verifying the sources in the process.
The price is €18 million ($25 million). News Corp. says that it will continue as a standalone company post-acquisition.

Jaysus.

News Corp Pays $25M For Storyful, Which Digs Up And Verifies News From Social Sites Like Twitter And Instagram (TechCrunch)

“Above all, Storyful will honour its partnership with the awe-inspiring community of reporters, thinkers, activists, pioneers and entrepreneurs making journalism fit for purpose in the social age. Today is a good day for that movement. Social journalism is no longer a problem for the news industry … it is a solution.”

Mark Little, today.

Murdoch and social journalism? Hahahahahaha

JAMMY BASTARD!!

Will he leave RTE now?

This time next year, Rodney

Fair play though, in fairness.

Jammy Fupper

Storyful Joins Forces With Newscorp (Mark Little, Storyful)

Ruper Murdoch (actually looking at Storyful) pic via Natalie Ravitz