Merrill Brown

Brown was associated with The Washington Post from 1979 to 1985, serving as a financial reporter (1979–1982), New York City financial correspondent (1982–1984) and director of business development, Washington Post Company (1984–1985).[7] Prior to that, Brown wrote for the Washington Star (1978–1979), Media General Newspapers (1975–1978), the Winston-Salem Sentinel (1974–1975) and the St. Louis Post Dispatch (1973–1974).[8]

Brown was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1988 to 1991.[9][10]

Brown was a member of the 1991 launch team for the cable network Court TV. From 1990-1994, he oversaw public relations and the development of the network's day-to-day management structure.[11]

In 1996, Brown helped launch MSNBC.com, and was the website’s first Editor-in-Chief. He was responsible for connecting Microsoft’s “technology wizards” and NBC’s “news hounds,” developing the relationships between MSNBC on the Internet, based in Redmond, Washington, and MSNBC Cable, based in New Jersey.[4] 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.[12]

In the spring of 2005, he prepared a report for the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which examined young peoples' changing media consumption habits.[13] The report was referenced later that year in a speech to the American Society of Magazine Editors.[14] In 2012, Brown co-authored a report with Larry Kramer, publisher of USA Today, about the future of the PBS NewsHour. The report, commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, called on the program to “modernize news gathering production.”[15]

In 2012, Brown was appointed as the inaugural Director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University.[2][3]

Brown has served on the Boards of Directors for GoLocal24,[16] 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 Graduate School of Journalism.[17]

Previously Brown was Chairman of the Board at NowPublic.[18] Brown has also served on the board of Smashing Ideas Inc.[19]

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.[20]