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

Photos showing resemblance between father and son at 6 months go viral

Photos showing resemblance between father and son at 6 months go viral

People

5 years ago

Tribe who worships Prince Philip say his spirit is ready to return to island

Tribe who worships Prince Philip say his spirit is ready to return to island

World

5 years ago

Future jobs: The professionals businesses will need after Covid-19

Future jobs: The professionals businesses will need after Covid-19

Business and Economy

5 years ago

CEO pranked on livestream by caller pretending to be Donald Trump

CEO pranked on livestream by caller pretending to be Donald Trump

World

5 years ago

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson celebrates daughter Tia Giana's birthday in cute post

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson celebrates daughter Tia Giana's birthday in cute post

Entertainment

5 years ago

Parenting: Viral photo of dad asleep on hospital floor stirs reactions

Parenting: Viral photo of dad asleep on hospital floor stirs reactions

People

5 years ago

Hester Ford: America's oldest person dies aged 116 years

Hester Ford: America's oldest person dies aged 116 years

World

5 years ago

Hester Ford, who was born in South Carolina in 1904 and declared by the Gerontology Research Group in 2020 as the oldest person in America, died aged 116 years.

Queen Elizabeth II pens goodbye to Prince Philip with handwritten note

Queen Elizabeth II pens goodbye to Prince Philip with handwritten note

World

5 years ago

While saying goodbye to her late husband, Queen Elizabeth left a handwritten note on her husband's casket, a beautiful reminisce to their early days as lovers.

Prince Charles and Harry reconnect at Philip's funeral after year of issues

Prince Charles and Harry reconnect at Philip's funeral after year of issues

World

5 years ago

The funeral of Prince Philip served as a stepping stone for Prince Charles to reconnect with his son Prince Harry after a year of father-son disagreements.

Man, 81, inspires many as he runs 400m daily, adorable photos go viral

Man, 81, inspires many as he runs 400m daily, adorable photos go viral

People

5 years ago

Social media users were recently motivated by a cute photo of an 81-year-old Chinese man running 400m on a daily basis. The man records his progress each day.

Kind man feeds 150 people from top of a car, video goes viral

Kind man feeds 150 people from top of a car, video goes viral

World

5 years ago

A Nigerian white man identified as Mohammed Jammal got many talking after he shared a video of himself feeding over 100 persons from the top of a Hilux car.

Wesley Snipes speaks African language as he hangs out with Ben Murray-Bruce

Wesley Snipes speaks African language as he hangs out with Ben Murray-Bruce

World

5 years ago

Ex-lawmaker Ben Murray-Bruce recently took to his page on Instagram with a video showing him with Wesley Snipes. The actor also spoke Yoruba in the funny video.

Halala: Man who became lawyer in 2009 now lawmaker after 12 years

Halala: Man who became lawyer in 2009 now lawmaker after 12 years

World

5 years ago

Honourable Francis-Xavier Sosu (Esq) is an NDC MP for Madina Constituency. He was called to the bar as a lawyer in 2009. Now he is a lawmaker in the same place.

Covid pandemic cuts down kasi hair salons: "Situation is quite bad"

Covid pandemic cuts down kasi hair salons: "Situation is quite bad"

South Africa

5 years ago

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on nearly all the economic industries and township hair salons have felt the weight of the South African lockdown.

Tonye Irims nearly sold his business for nothing, now makes millions

Tonye Irims nearly sold his business for nothing, now makes millions

South Africa

5 years ago

Tonye Irims is no stranger to failure but he didn't allow mistakes to get in the way of success. Speaking to Briefly News, Tonye shared his incredible story.

Maryn Blignaut