WSJ editor Liz Heron quits job to join Facebook's news wing

A Wall Street Journal editor, Liz Heron, has reportedly quit her current position to take up a role at social networking giant Facebook aimed to better connect the site with media organizations.

A journalism veteran, Heron, had been associated with the WSJ for two years, and prior to that held roles with the New York Times and Washington Post.

According to Mashable, in her most recent role as emerging media editor at the WSJ, Heron has worked with reporters to create news tailored specifically for mobile and social media audiences.

Announcing her shift, Heron wrote on Facebook that in her new role she would have the opportunity to work directly on how Facebook partners with journalists and media organizations, at a time when Facebook is putting a big emphasis on news and mobile.

The report said that Heron's hire comes on heels of Twitter's recent hire for a similar role last October with NBC's Vivian Schiller as head of news partnerships.

As Pew research indicates 50 percent of Americans now consider the Internet their main source of news, and nearly 20 percent of the total population used social networks for news back in 2012, the two hires merely reinforce that social networks are major vehicles for news organizations to get the word out about their content and stories, the report added.