Merrill Brown, a journalist, educator, business executive and consultant, is currently Founder and CEO of The News Project Inc., which provides technology and services for small to medium sized news organizations. He was founding editor in chief of MSNBC.com, a former reporter and executive at The Washington Post, and from 2012 to 2017 served as founding director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. The views expressed in this commentary belong to the author. View more opinion at CNN.