Myrsini Zorba’s debut to the ministry of Culture could not have started in a stranger manner. Hours after the former book publisher and Europarliamentarian was appointed in the role, she inadvertently caused international confusion, when she allegedly posted a tweet reporting the death of internationally acclaimed director Costa-Gavras.
“A journalist called me and told me that I died,” Gavras, 85, told Greece’s ERT TV on Thursday.
The fake news was picked up by all major news outlets in Greece and abroad, including the Associated Press and Washington Post, but the new minister insists that she was not the source of the hoax.
This was allegedly the work of Italian journalist Tommaso Debenedetti, known as a serial hoaxer, who often posts fake news stories. The issue is now being investigated by the Hellenic Police internet crime force, which will try to clarify why the Italian hoaxer would create a fake Twitter account, impersonating Greece’s new minister for culture.
Hailed as one of Alexis Tsipras most inspired cabinet choices, Myrsini Zorba is a widely respected member of the literary community, with experience in policy.
After a long career as head of Odysseas Publishing House, she was appointed by the Andreas Papandreou administration as the inaugural director of the National Book Centre in 1994, a tenure followed by her winning a seat in the European Parliament. Speaking at the handover ceremony, she said that the challenge ahead was to identify the cultural effect of the Crisis.