Dow Jones and Cision Settle Contract Dispute

Consumer and media intelligence specialist Cision has reached an agreement with news publisher Dow Jones, ending a year-old dispute over breach of contract and suspended payments.

In October 2023 DRNO reported that Cision had integrated Dow Jones titles including The Wall Street Journal, Barron's and MarketWatch into its platform - along with select content from research tool Factiva - aiming to help its PR and corporate comms clients manage brand reputation, monitor 'business-critical' topics and extend their global comms strategies. Cision reportedly agreed to pay fees totaling around $174m over eight years.

Just over a year ago, Dow Jones sued Cision after receiving an email from Cision CEO Cali Tran stating that his company would suspend further payments because it had lost c.$6.5m due to the relationship. Dow Jones said Cision had 'unilaterally concluded' that the partnership was not economically viable for it. Shortly after, Cision responded, saying Dow Jones had 'breached its fundamental obligations under the agreement, such as exclusivity, confidentiality and customer marketing'.

The firms have now confirmed that a settlement has been reached, on mutually acceptable terms, but declined to give further details now or in the future.

Dow Jones is part of News Corp, and earlier this year announced the acquisition of two geopolitical intelligence providers, Dragonfly Intelligence and Oxford Analytica. Cision is the home of PR Newswire and social media analysis and management solution Brandwatch. Tran left the firm last autumn and the company appointed Guy Abramo (pictured) to replace him.

Web sites: www.cision.com and www.dowjones.com .