Cision History

Over 75 years of Industry Experience

A great business idea can sprout from the most coincidental of circumstances. Bacon’s Information, now Cision is a case in point.

In 1932, a seed was planted when Robert H. Bacon, while dining, overheard two people discussing how difficult it was for their companies to find publications that were appropriate news outlets for their companies. Bacon concluded that it might be a wise idea to put together a booklet of such publications, specifying the markets they served and the identities of their editors.

From his garage in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette, Illinois, Bacon began compiling a book of media contacts with commentary about how public relations (PR) practitioners might influence editorial content. He quickly discovered that his new customers (then known as “press agents”) could benefit from having the ability to collect their clients’ news stories that appeared in print.

This simple but important insight spurred the growth of the PR profession. In its early years, the goal of public relations was publicity. Then, PR practitioners began to employ the media to affect the image and ideas of their clients. Today, PR professionals are an indispensable source of counsel for corporations, governments and associations. Over the years, as the service became more and more valuable, Bacon's began publishing media directories with carefully-gathered information about journalists in the press, as well as producers, editors, writers and other contacts at TV, Radio and Internet outlets. Bacon’s soon became the leading media information company in the United States.

Bacon’s media monitoring business started as a “trade press clipping bureau” and provided PR professionals with evidence of their clients’ media exposure. Eventually, Bacon’s expanded its monitoring services beyond trade press only, to cover virtually all printed publications in North America, thousands of Internet news sites and other electronic news sources, providing clients with a complete national monitoring service.

Bacon’s Information has evolved from its humble beginnings to Cision's present-day status as one of the world’s most extensive media management, intelligence and strategy companies.

As an organization with the ability to stay on top of new trends and developments, Cision is often the main source of media research and monitoring for U.S. PR agencies and corporations and is a trendsetter for the communications industry as a whole.

By using the latest methods and technology for media research, contact, monitoring and evaluation, Cision has been able to broaden its product offerings in many areas and offers unsurpassed quality of media data.

Clients can access CisionPoint, an integrated online media management solution, round-the-clock from any location in the world.

CisionPoint subscribers can research media outlets and identify the journalists best suited for their clients’ stories. They can directly communicate with journalists and email them news releases. In addition, subscribers can monitor all media coverage − print, broadcast, Internet and consumer generated media and create press reports to share with clients, stakeholders, or their team. CisionPoint allows them to collaborate on work for their clients and evaluate the success they have achieved.

There have been many achievements that have contributed to Cision’s success, but almost all resulted from the success of its clients. After all, Cision is in the business of helping clients work more efficiently and effectively. Our expertise helps build corporate reputations.

Cision's Evolution

• 1932 – Founded as Bacon’s Clipping Bureau
• 1934 – Bacon’s Publicity Manual introduced (the nation’s first publication to provide advice to PR practitioners)
• 1952 – Bacon’s Publicity Checker – Trade Press directory issued (names of publications, editor and reporter contact information)
• 1960 – Daily newspapers added to media monitoring services
• 1970 – Press release mailing services introduced
• 1976 – Bacon’s Publicity Checker – Newspaper directory issued
• 1978-1990 – Several specialized media directories introduced
• 1991-1997— No longer known as a trade press clipping bureau, Bacon’s becomes the leading monitoring company in the United States
• 1994 – MediaSource® CD introduced
• 1995 – Bacon’s acquired by Primedia
• 1997-1998 – In-depth industry specialization focus added to media research
• 2000 – MediaSource® launched as first online media research and distribution service; Internet monitoring service launched; Bacon’s collects web clippings from more than 7,000 news web sites; PR MediaNews (a web-based, daily online newsletter focused exclusively on the media with information on editor changes, magazine profiles and trend reporting) launched; and TV closed-captioning monitoring service begun
• 2001 – Bacon’s acquired by Observer AB, based in Stockholm, Sweden, the global leader in the media intelligence industry
• 2002 – Media Pulse broadcast monitoring services acquired by Bacon’s to provide a single source for global print, broadcast and online media monitoring; International media monitoring introduced
• 2003 – Chicago News, a broadcast monitoring service, acquired by Bacon’s; MediaSource® monitoring module launched; and media evaluation
• 2004 – MediaMap acquired by Bacon’s to boost research data by adding industry-specific media information
• 2005 – Delahaye, a media evaluation and consulting services firm, and Multivision, a broadcast monitoring and analysis firm were acquired by Bacon’s to further develop and expand its broadcast media monitoring and media evaluation services
• 2007 – Bacon’s is rebranded as Cision, and serves as the company's headquarters in North America. Cision US Inc. is headquartered in Chicago with 24 offices nationwide and over 790 employees.