What happened when a foreign correspondent fell in love with social media

Mark Little is famous in Ireland’s media circles for quitting his job as anchor of the country’s most prestigious TV news and current affairs show to explore a “niggling” business idea.

That idea took hold during Iran’s 2009 contested presidential elections, which ended in bloody street scenes when police opened fire on protestors. The horrifying events were filmed and shared by Iranians in real-time on Twitter, while the world’s foreign correspondents were holed up in their hotel rooms. From that moment Mark was gripped by social media’s storytelling potential.

His idea went on to become Storyful – the world’s first social media news agency – that gathers and verifies social content for use in the mainstream media. But this was just the start of Mark’s digital entrepreneurship in the media industry – we find out more about his fascinating career and what he thinks the future holds for journalists.

Producers: Joanna Hartley, Nizar Rebii and Laura Hofer