French Secretary of State for the Social and Solidarity Economy, Marlène Schiappa, is this month's “cover girl” for Playboy magazine. The news was advanced by Paris Match magazine on Friday of last week and was accompanied by a clipping that showed the upper half of the front page, which only showed the historic headline and Schiappa's face. The magazine has already gone on sale, with an interview with the politician and a 12-page photographic report (in which she does not appear naked). The initiative of the political media has generated a major stir: the French Prime Minister called her upon finding out to reproach her for her "inadequate" decision, the Interior Minister came out in her support and the opposition has taken the opportunity to erode the Government in the midst of a crisis over the pension reform. Schiappa has justified her appearance in Playboy on Twitter: “Defending the right of women to dispose of their bodies, always and everywhere. In France, women are free. Even if it annoys retrogrades and hypocrites”.
Given the escalation of the controversy, La Vanguardia reported it on Tuesday in the digital edition and the following day in print. The image with which the news was accompanied, however, was a montage that mixed the upper half of the real cover with a more provocative photograph of a model from 2020. The AFP agency locates the origin of the fake in an account Twitter and points out that other well-known Spanish, Italian and English media also approved it. In La Vanguardia, the image was removed from the web on Wednesday, and on Thursday the print edition published a statement of errors.
Reader Marc B. de Valmont, a French resident in Paris who declares himself a faithful reader of La Vanguardia, wrote to me on Wednesday to alert me of the "serious error" published: "I am disappointed that a serious newspaper like La Vanguardia, committed to the defense of a quality and contrasted journalism, and critical of the misinformation that has poisoned our societies for several years now (his various reports demonstrate this), make such a mistake ”. Other readers warned of the hoax in the comments of the digital edition.
The fact that the montage was an enlargement of the actual cover and that other outlets had previously published it probably contributed to the error. But Mr. Valmont is absolutely right: after having warned of the risks of hoaxes on social networks and defending quality journalism as the best retaining wall against misinformation, there are no valid excuses. We can only apologize and renew our commitment to contrast and verify everything we publish.
