Campbell Brown on writing
From P&P Live! Bruce Feiler | Life Is in the Transitions with Campbell Brown · · Politics and Prose
“One of the things that strikes me about your writing over the years is it always feels very timely — it always feels like it strikes a nerve — and partly it feels to me like it's because everything you write feels so deeply personal.”
On , Campbell Brown, Executive Director at Brown–Forman, spoke about writing during P&P Live! Bruce Feiler | Life Is in the Transitions with Campbell Brown on Politics and Prose.
About Campbell Brown
Campbell Brown, a fifth-generation member of the Brown family and executive at Brown-Forman, has spoken extensively about the company's history and his role in overseeing its whiskey brands. He has described the company's founding principle, established by his great-great-grandfather George Garvin Brown, of selling Old Forester exclusively by the bottle with the label "nothing better in the market," which Brown said holds the family and employees accountable for product quality. Brown has discussed the company's investment in a new distillery in Louisville, which he described as a risky but worthwhile project given the brand's history, and noted that the oldest barrels produced there are just over two years old, with no rush to release them. He has also commented on the broader bourbon industry, stating that the growth and innovation in the category are "explosive" and that the presence of new competitors is "great for our industry" as it revives creativity. In addition to his work at Brown-Forman, Brown has been an advocate for charter schools. In a 2014 speech, he criticized the teachers union for supporting a state law that he said gives tenured teachers protections "no other public employee has," citing an article about teachers who kept their jobs after being found guilty of sexual misconduct. He argued that the issue is about political leadership, stating that "this is a test of who they are" and that "there is no middle ground" when it comes to children's futures. Brown has also participated in public discussions about news and media, having previously worked as a journalist at CNN and NBC News before joining Facebook as head of news partnerships, where he said his team works to "reduce the amount of false news misinformation on the platform while also trying to elevate and get more visibility for reliable sources of news and information."