Merrill Brown is a media executive and journalist. In addition to writing for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', he launched MSNBC.com and was the website’s founding editor-in-chief. He is the former Director of the School of Communication and Media at

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Clifton and into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public un ...

. Brown is founder of The News Project.

Career

Journalist

Brown was associated with ''

'' from 1979 to 1985, serving as a financial reporter (1979–1982),

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

financial correspondent (1982–1984) and director of business development, Washington Post Company (1984–1985). Prior to that, Brown wrote for ''

The Washington Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the ''Washington'' ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday ...

'' (1978–1979), Media General Newspapers (1975–1978), the Winston-Salem Sentinel (1974–1975) and the ''

St. Louis Post Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democrat ...

'' (1973–1974). Brown was a member of the

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

s Board of Jurors from 1988 to 1991. On January 10, 2023, it was announced that Brown was appointed as the editorial director for

G/O Media G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that owns and operates the digital media outlets '' Kotaku'' and '' The Root''. It was formed in 2019 after the private equity firm Great Hill Partners purchased two digital portfolios from ...

. On June 30, he announced a decision to test AI-generated content on the company's portfolio of media websites, and was met with opposition from the different editorial teams across the portfolio.

Launching Court TV, MSNBC.com

Brown was a member of the 1991 launch team for the cable network

Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former pay-television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cover ...

. From 1990-1994, he oversaw public relations and the development of the network's day-to-day management structure. In 1996, Brown helped launch MSNBC.com, and was the website’s first editor-in-chief. He was responsible for connecting

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

’s “technology wizards” and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

’s “news hounds,” developing the relationships between

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

on the Internet, based in Redmond, Washington, and MSNBC Cable, based in New Jersey. He went on to become senior vice president in August 2000 and during his tenure, the company grew to become one of the most visited news offerings on the Internet.

Media consultant

In the spring of 2005, he prepared a report for the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Since its founding, the Carnegie Corporation has endowed or othe ...

, which examined young peoples' changing media consumption habits. The report was referenced later that year in a speech to the

American Society of Magazine Editors The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) is an industry trade group for magazine journalists and editors of magazines published in the United States. ASME includes the editorial leaders of most major consumer magazine in print and digital ...

. In 2012, Brown co-authored a report with Larry Kramer, publisher of

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

, about the future of the PBS NewsHour. The report, commissioned by the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

, called on the program to “modernize news-gathering production.”

Montclair State University

In 2012, Brown was appointed as the inaugural Director of the School of Communication and Media at

Board work

Brown has served on the boards of directors for GoLocal24, Revenue.com and MedCity News. He is also an advisor to Capture Media Inc., Dstillery, Mixpo and is a member of the advisory board of the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

Graduate School of Journalism. Previously Brown was chairman of the board at NowPublic. Brown has also served on the board of Smashing Ideas Inc.

The News Project

In 2018 Brown formed The News Project with founding partners Charming Robot, 10up, Mark Walsh and other investors supporting the platform, which includes technology from Piano.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Merrill American male journalists American media executives Living people The Washington Post journalists St. Louis Post-Dispatch people Washington University in St. Louis alumni Journalists from Silver Spring, Maryland Journalists from Philadelphia Year of birth missing (living people)