G/O Media appoints Brown editorial director

Digital publisher G/O Media has appointed veteran journalist and media executive Merrill Brown as editorial director. His hiring fills a post that had been vacant for a year and a half.

An excerpt from the announcement reads:

“As editorial director, Brown will oversee the newsrooms and coverage of all G/O Media properties, which include Gizmodo, The Onion, The A.V. Club, Jezebel and Deadspin. Brown reports directly to CEO Jim Spanfeller.

“Brown’s media-biz experience includes advisory stints for MedCity News, The Guardian, ABC News, National Public Radio, New York Magazine and TV Guide. Brown was founder and CEO of the News Project Inc., established to provide technology and services designed to make it easier for investors, philanthropists, journalists and others to operate digital news businesses. He also served as inaugural director of Montclair State University’s School of Communication and Media, as well as editor-in-chief of media industry magazine Channels, senior VP of Court TV, and MSNBC.com’s first editor-in-chief. At the Washington Post, Brown was a New York-based business reporter.

“Brown also has served as a board member at more than a dozen companies and nonprofit organizations, including the International Women’s Media Foundation, Now Public and the City University of New York’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. Brown is co-founder of the Online News Association and founding editorial director of News21, a university journalism initiative.”