CALLOUS

Report: Facebook Exec Says Zuckerberg ‘Doesn’t Care’ About Publishers

Facebook exec warned media sites would die if they didn’t work with company.

Mark Zuckerberg has been given a justifiably hard time in the media this year, and reported comments from a senior Facebook executive look unlikely to help smooth things over. According to The Australian, Campbell Brown, Facebook’s global head of news partnerships and former CNN and NBC reporter, is reported to have privately admitted the CEO “doesn’t care” about publishers and warned that if they didn’t work with Facebook, “I’ll be holding your hands with your dying business like in a hospice.” The comments were allegedly made in a meeting meant to reassure publishers that they could build sustainable business models through Facebook. “Mark doesn’t care about publishers but is giving me a lot of leeway and concessions to make these changes,” Brown reportedly said. Facebook denies the comments were made, but The Australian reports that five people who were at the meeting corroborated the account. Brown issued a statement saying: “These quotes are simply not accurate and don’t reflect the discussion we had in the meeting.”