St. Petersburg Times columnist resigns over fake My Space site

St. Petersburg, Florida -- The St. Petersburg Times on Thursday night announced the resignation of an arts columnist who admitted to being involved with a fake My Space web site that mocked Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms.

Gina Vivinetto wrote for the paper’s free tabloid, Tampa Bay Times. The paper says Vivinetto admitted posting several comments on the phony page that appeared to have been created by Commissioner Storms.

Earlier this week Storms asked the county attorney to have My Space remove the page after reading comments that attacked her stand against government recognition of gay pride.

In a brief article to readers, Times Executive Editor Neil Brown said, “Sadly, Gina’s actions irreparably compromised her credibility as a journalist for our company.”

The article says Brown contacted Storms on Thursday to “inform her of the developments.”