Best News & Entertainment '24

Maryn Blignaut

Education: BA in Communication Science, University of South Africa (2012–2016), AFP Digital Investigation Techniques (GNI, 2023), Google News Initiative training (2024), Thomson Reuters Foundation AI Adoption Training and WAN-IFRA Women in News Programme (2025)

Experience: Briefly News (2017-present)

Awards: - Best Appealing Storytelling: Highest Average Pageviews, 2023 by Briefly News - Awarded the 2023 Gender Mainstreaming Award (Empowerment of Women in the Community) as part of the Briefly News team

Maryn Blignaut is the Editor-in-Chief at Briefly News, with nine years of experience in digital journalism. She holds a BA in Communication Science from the University of South Africa (2016) and specialises in digital storytelling and feature writing. She has completed advanced professional training in media and innovation, including the AFP Digital Investigation Techniques course, multiple Google News Initiative programmes, Thomson Reuters AI Adoption Training, and the WAN-IFRA Women in News leadership programme. For enquiries, contact maryn.blignaut@briefly.co.za

1170 articles published since 30 Oct 2017

Author's articles

2 Brothers escape from leopard by hitting It with a birthday cake

2 Brothers escape from leopard by hitting It with a birthday cake

World

5 years ago

Woman fights pastor during prayer session, stops him from putting hand on her head

Woman fights pastor during prayer session, stops him from putting hand on her head

World

5 years ago

Cute video shows priceless moment dad meets and carries his newborn baby

Cute video shows priceless moment dad meets and carries his newborn baby

World

5 years ago

Prince Harry, William put feud aside as they reunite to unveil statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace

Prince Harry, William put feud aside as they reunite to unveil statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace

World

5 years ago

Flying car equipped with BMW engine completes 35-minute flight test between 2 airports

Flying car equipped with BMW engine completes 35-minute flight test between 2 airports

World

5 years ago

Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot, husband welcome baby daughter at home

Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot, husband welcome baby daughter at home

World

5 years ago

135 Doctors to separate twins joined at the head in R7.2 million surgery

135 Doctors to separate twins joined at the head in R7.2 million surgery

World

5 years ago

A set of twins have has been born in Ghana conjoined at their heads. They are at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital awaiting a historic surgical procedure.

Emilio Flores Marquez: Puerto Rican man named world's oldest man at 112

Emilio Flores Marquez: Puerto Rican man named world's oldest man at 112

World

5 years ago

According to the Guinness World Records site, Emilio, born on August 8, 1908, in Carolina, Puerto Rico, is the second-oldest of 11 children born to Alberto.

Proudly SA company partners with Google to create its own smartphone

Proudly SA company partners with Google to create its own smartphone

People

5 years ago

Mara Phones is one of the few companies in the country that is looking to compete against the large international smartphone businesses with their own product.

Husband goes to university for cute photoshoot with young student wife as they welcome baby

Husband goes to university for cute photoshoot with young student wife as they welcome baby

World

5 years ago

A young Nigerian student and her husband stormed a university for beautiful photoshoot as they celebrated her safe delivery. She took pictures with coursemates.

Acrobatic man turns himself into a "car" and rolls across the road in video

Acrobatic man turns himself into a "car" and rolls across the road in video

World

5 years ago

A man has got many people talking after displaying amazing acrobatic skills in a video. He could be seen standing on his hands & putting both legs on his head.

Homeless artist Richard Hutchins gets Hollywood offer after his viral video

Homeless artist Richard Hutchins gets Hollywood offer after his viral video

World

5 years ago

Homeless artist Richard Hutchins gets lucrative offers from Hollywood to play as an artist. Hutchins spent years homeless after his art studio burned down.

Medical students quickly save a woman’s life during flight, many praise them

Medical students quickly save a woman’s life during flight, many praise them

World

5 years ago

Lauren Bagneris and Duplessis, two medical classmates, saved a woman's life during a flight to Greece. They calmed her as they acted according to instructions.

Emotional moment shows woman, 50, who gave birth for the 1st time thanking God

Emotional moment shows woman, 50, who gave birth for the 1st time thanking God

World

5 years ago

A 50-year-old woman has expressed gratitude to God for finally blessing her with fruit of the womb after years of waiting. Many have reacted to the cute video.

Church goes crypto, directs 'partners' to make payments to its Bitcoin wallet

Church goes crypto, directs 'partners' to make payments to its Bitcoin wallet

World

5 years ago

A church has gone the way of crypto in receiving money. The church now has a Bitcoin wallet. In a viral picture, the wallet address was seen on the tv screen.

Maryn Blignaut