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Times arts columnist steps down

By Times Staff
Published May 5, 2006

Gina Vivinetto, an arts columnist for tbt*/Tampa Bay Times , has resigned from the newspaper after acknowledging that she posted several contributions to a phony Web site that mocked Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms.

"Sadly, Gina's actions irreparably compromised her credibility as a journalist for our company," Times executive editor Neil Brown said.

Brown contacted Storms Thursday to inform her of the developments. Storms had not been aware of who made the specific postings that were found on a fake profile of Storms that appeared on Myspace.com. After Storms complained, the page was taken down.

Vivinetto had been with the Times since 1990, working as a copy clerk and then music critic. She joined the staff of tbt*, the Times' free tabloid newspaper, as an arts columnist in early 2005.

[Last modified May 5, 2006, 02:30:26]