Whose side is Campbell Brown on? A recent New York Times article probes whether or not Facebook’s head of news partnerships is mere “window dressing,” appointed to satisfy the increasingly unsatisfied slew of media outlets who publish entirely for free on the platform. Others muse that her role is more nefarious, and that her appointment gives Facebook the guise of journalistic credibility without actually following through with delivering the promises it has made to both the media and its users. Those promises include surfacing news that’s verified, fact-checked and not fake.
But some who work in the tech industry don’t think Brown is being given the opportunity to make real change.
“She’s smart, but we’re different beasts,” Richard Gingras, the vice president for news at Google, told the New York Times. “I’m in a fortunate position where I’m involved with the product. I can make change. I feel for her, I really do.”
But others, including BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith, think Brown is making strides.
“I think she’s been a stronger figure in that role than any platform has ever had,” Smith told the Times.
So which is it? While Facebook and Campbell Brown decide, fake news continues to surface on the platform with regularity.
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