Posted on 05/05/2006 5:24:55 AM PDT by Dominick
TAMPA - A tbt* pop music critic resigned Thursday after acknowledging she had posted negative comments on a Myspace.com profile that parodied Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms.
The messages posted by Gina Vivinetto, a columnist for the free tabloid daily, which is published by the St. Petersburg Times, were "inappropriate," Neil Brown, the Times' executive editor and vice president, said late Thursday.
The comments, which Brown declined to describe in detail, were "mocking Ronda Storms in a somewhat sexual nature," he said.
The postings by Vivinetto were discovered Wednesday, two days after the fake profile was pulled from Myspace, Brown said. Vivinetto was asked about the postings Thursday. She acknowledged making them and agreed to resign, he said.
Vivinetto had worked as a critic for the Times before moving to tbt* last year. Brown said that although Vivinetto posted the comments on her own time, Times managers felt they compromised the paper's journalistic integrity.
Brown said he called Storms, told her about the postings and about Vivinetto's resignation.
Storms told News Channel 8 that the postings reflect a culture at the Times and The Tampa Tribune that is hostile toward her.
(Excerpt) Read more at tbo.com ...
Florida Pingworthy?
Nothing like a corrupt reporter mocking a public figure that she routinely mentions in her reporting.
Any wonder why I can't read the St. Pete Times?
The St. Pete Times put the 4 paragraph story on 3B. I think the web spoof story had been on 1B previously with many paragraphs.
We were in St. Pete during spring break. The hotel where we stayed gave us a complimentary issue of the St Pete Times every morning. It was one of the most liberal rags I've ever read and the Op Ed page was even worse.
It makes the Tampa Tribune look conservative by comparison.
Tampa Caver
I smell a lawsuit and I hope Ms. Storm soon owns the St. Pete Times. Notice how they try to C.Y.A. themselves after the fact? She did the posting "on her own time", etc. What a pantload of b.s. this paper really is. Go get 'em!!
Hey another caver! Are you a cave diver? I've heard most of the caves in Florida are up inthe western panhandle area. Is that true. I know there are world class springs there.
"central florida has a lot of caves. Several have been featured in the dive magazines."
Are you talking underwater caves? I'm not a cave diver, I'm too chicken. I like breathing air.
OK Are you guys members of the NSS? Locals? I'm not a cave diver, just an old lady who likes to cave. There are "dry caves" in the Miami area, but significant ones start in Central Florida around Brooksville.
"Are you talking underwater caves? I'm not a cave diver, I'm too chicken. I like breathing air."
yes, many miles of underwater caves in florida. I am not a cave diver either. The real life stories of tragedies plus the skull and crossbones warnings on the entrances have sufficiently deterred me.
Yes, I'm an NSS life member as well as other NSS affiliated memberships. I do my caving in Indiana, basically everything short of diving.
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