Verashni Pillay’s resignation sparks mixed reaction on social media
verashni pillay
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Last week proved to be an interesting week for media ethics and media freedom in South Africa, from Mabulu’s controversial painting to the notorious Huffington Post South Africa blog post.
The publication ran a blog post by a Shelley Garland, who turned out to be a hoax, and the scandal subsequently trended on social media, raising a number of concerns regarding racism, sexism and the credibility of the publication.
Shortly after the Huffington Ghost scandal broke, the Press Ombudsman found the publication guilty of breaching the press code and was ordered to apologise for malicious discriminatory hate speech.
As a result, editor-in-chief of Huffington Post SA Verashni Pillay resigned with immediate effect on Saturday, April 22.
The news and opinion website was launched in the country late last year. Pillay joined the team as the editor-in-chief shortly after the launch. She has worked at various periods as a senior reporter, covering politics and general news, including a stint as the editor-in-chief at Mail & Guardian, before joining Huffington Post.
It appears Pillay was the scapegoat in the debacle, according to some. The resignation sparked a mixture of reactions from politicians, fellow journalists and other influential public figures.
