The Argentine actress and presenter Florencia Peña, who this Thursday wrongly spread the news of the alleged death of Jorge Messi, father of Lionel Messi, was removed from the audiovisual platform where she worked, in the midst of an intense debate about the responsibility of the media.
“I don’t want to give you bad news, but Messi’s father just died. It was suddenly. In the middle of the World Cup,” Peña announced while hosting the program The Summer Show on Luzu TV, one of the most popular digital platforms in Argentina.
Minutes later, after being alerted by production, she clarified that the information was not confirmed. However, the fake news had already spread rapidly on social media.
The Messi family issued a statement in which they expressed their “deep discomfort” at “the lack of sensitivity, respect and scruples with which some people have treated a strictly private and family situation.”
In addition, he reported that Jorge Messi, 68 years old, is going through a health situation and that “he is under medical follow-up, recovering and evolving favorably within the condition he presents,” without offering further details.
The director of Luzu TV, Nicolás Occhiato, expressed on his social networks his “indignation” and disagreement with what happened during the broadcast.
“An internal review and a forceful sanction is required because it was an unacceptable error,” he stated.
Shortly after, through an institutional statement, Luzu TV announced the separation of the responsible parties involved and confirmed that Florencia Peña would no longer be part of the channel, considering “the dissemination of sensitive information without due prior verification to be inadmissible.”
After his departure, Peña published a message on his social networks in which he apologized to the Messi family and said he felt “very ashamed of having been the vehicle for this pain” caused to the footballer’s environment.
The host argued that the production gave her the information live as if it had already been verified and that she trusted that version.
“Even so, I realize that I am part of the mistake and that is why I decided to step aside and conclude my participation in Luzu. I apologize again from the bottom of my heart, I was wrong,” he expressed.
Journalists, hosts and other communication professionals harshly questioned the lack of verification and responsibility of both the presenter and the production team.
The episode also caused a strong reaction among social media users.
According to a study released this Friday by the firm Reputación Digital, 77% of the mentions related to the case reflected negative feelings, mainly anger, which represented 48% of the reactions.
Furthermore, the report indicated that 72% of critical comments blamed the lack of verification and information production processes, while 28% pointed directly to Florencia Peña.
Even the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, reacted to the case through his social networks, where he described the driver’s statements as “aberrant and unscrupulous” and described her as a “small-time gossip.”