Marijuana Business Daily appoints new editor in chief

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Marijuana Business Daily has appointed Howard Burns, a longtime top editor in business-to-business journalism, as its editor in chief.

The position is new for the company.

Burns will oversee the entire editorial operation, including the MJBizDaily website as well as MJBizDaily InternationalHemp Industry DailyMarijuana Business Magazine and the company’s annual Marijuana Business Factbook and industry reports.

He reports to MJBizDaily’s founding editor and vice president, Chris Walsh.

“Howard has a deep background in B2B journalism and will use his expertise to elevate our news, analysis and market research as the industry matures and the needs of our audience change,” Walsh said.

“Cannabis companies across the industry are increasingly able to land top-tier talent from the mainstream business world, and this is a great example of that trend.”

Burns has been in the publishing business for 35 years, including 31 in the B2B space.

The bulk of his career was spent at the entertainment trade paper The Hollywood Reporter. Burns worked there 18 years, including five as editor and one as editorial director.

Burns also served as editor in chief of the Pittsburgh Business Times, NJBiz and Moving Pictures magazine.

Before becoming an editor, Burns spent five years as a reporter for publications including The Miami News, cable-TV trade paper Multichannel News and The Hollywood Reporter.

He’s a graduate of the University of Miami.