Campbell Brown, a former CNN anchor who was hired by Facebook in 2017 to lead its news partnership team, is departing the company. Brown had been hired to oversee the social platform’s relationship with traditional media, and to scale back the false news that was coursing through Facebook at the time.
It was a new role at Facebook, which was focused on being a more trusted source for legit journalism in an area rampant with fake news.
Brown will remain an adviser to Facebook parent Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Brown wrote on Facebook at the time of her hire: “This is a different role for me, but one where I will be tapping my newsroom experience to help news organizations and journalists work more closely and more effectively with Facebook. I will be working directly with our partners to help them understand how Facebook can expand the reach of their journalism, and contribute value to their businesses. That also means making sure there is ongoing feedback from publishers as Facebook develops new products and tools for news organizations.”
Brown helped launch Facebook News, a tab focused on news and lifestyle coverage, and Bulletin, a newsletter platform for established journalists and writers.
Her role transformed as Facebook made news less of a priority. Last year, Facebook said it was shutting down Bulletin, according to The New York Times, and it stopped paying publishers for content that appeared in its news tab.
Brown hosted Campbell Brown on CNN at 8 p.m. from 2008 to 2010. Before that, she anchored Weekend Today at NBC.
In 2015 Brown launched the nonprofit news site The Seventy Four, which is dedicated to education in America, its name a reference to the 74 million children in the nation.
