Facebook is finally hiring a head of news
Facebook may be cleaning up its image with journalism.
The company is looking to hire an "experienced news executive" for its Global News Partnerships team who can "be a public-facing voice of Facebook and its role in the news ecosystem," according to a recent job posting.
This development comes after months of Facebook facing scrutiny with its apparent incapability to combat fake news on its network. Some have argued that fake news on Facebook significantly contributed to the election of Donald Trump.
Both Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg have repeatedly addressed those claims. Yet, the two have little professional newsroom experience, and the service continued lack of improvement leads to frustration.
Facebook does have a news partnerships team already that works directly with news organizations to share features and solicit feedback. For instance, Facebook's news partnerships team assists with Facebook Live videos and on boarding for Instant Articles (Mashable is a partner for both programs).
It does already have leadership within that team. Andy Mitchell serves as the director of news partnership and has more than 15 years working in public relations and marketing for CNN. Patrick Walker leads Facebook's media partnerships for Europe and recently spoke at a conference where he outlined the company's news principles.
Still, Facebook is looking to hire someone with at least 20 years experience in "news, with strong track-record and understanding across the business," according to the listing. The person should have a "proven track record of building, initiating and driving new business and/or organizational opportunities."
Facebook declined to comment on the new role.
Other major news distribution platforms have similar teams and public-facing leaders. Snap hired Peter Hamby, formerly a political reporter at CNN, to serve as its head of news. Peter Greenberger serves as the global director of news at Twitter, and Richard Gingras is vice president of news at Google.
Topics Facebook
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
