It is now official: Ranucci is leaving Report. He will be replaced by Giulia Presutti and Daniele Piervincenzi.

It is now official. Rai has removed Sigfrido Ranucci as presenter of Report. Giulia Presutti and Daniele Piervincenzi will take his place from next season. The public broadcaster states in a press release: “Rai announces that, from the next season, the presentation of the investigative programme will be entrusted to Giulia Presutti and Daniele Piervincenzi, both of whom were successful in Rai’s selection process for professional journalists.” The presenter’s bitter comment: “Two people have been chosen to replace me who undermine the professional standards that have shaped the history of *Report* and public service broadcasting over the past 30 years”Viale Mazzini has announced three proposals for professional redeployment: a transfer to TG3 or RaiNews, or a posting as a correspondent at a foreign bureau. Schlein: “The right’s aim was to scupper Report.” La Russa: “I’m glad they’ve suspended him; I couldn’t care less about the attack. His programmes were utterly specious and one-sided.”

“This decision,” Viale Mazzini continues, “marks the start of a new phase for one of the most important programmes in the public service broadcaster’s current affairs portfolio, with a co-presentation format entrusted to two journalists selected as winners of the Rai competition, reflecting their professionalism and experience gained in the field.” In the statement, Rai explains the reasoning behind its choice, speaking about the two new presenters: “Giulia Presutti has been a journalist and correspondent for Report for many years. Her career is closely linked to investigative journalism and the production of reports on issues of public interest. She came top in the Rai selection process, confirming a career developed within the organisation and through her day-to-day work in the field.”

As for Daniele Piervincenzi: “He brings to Report a wealth of experience in investigative and in-depth television journalism. He has been a correspondent and presenter on Rai programmes such as Nemo – Nessuno escluso and Popolo sovrano, covering social issues, crime, the suburbs and local communities. In 2017, during an investigation carried out for Nemo in Ostia, he was attacked alongside cameraman Edoardo Anselmi: an incident that has become one of the defining moments of investigative journalism in the field”. For this reason, the Rai statement continues: “The appointment of Presutti and Piervincenzi is therefore intended to underline a specific principle: the strengthening of Rai’s investigative journalism through new talent from within the organisation, selected on the basis of merit and competence.”

The note also contains a passage on Ranucci’s own future. In accordance with trade union agreements and the procedures laid down for the management of career paths, “the company has presented Sigfrido Ranucci with three possible options for professional redeployment, consistent with his rank and the experience he has gained at Rai, with a view to ensuring professional continuity appropriate to his profile and to the company’s editorial and organisational needs”As mentioned, the journalist was offered three options: a transfer to Tg3 or RaiNews, or a post as a correspondent at a foreign bureau.

Rai, the statement concludes, "believes that the value of investigative journalism – which has always been a hallmark of the public service’s news offering – lies in the credibility and authority that only full editorial independence and rigorous impartiality can ensure. With the new two-person presenting team, the organisation is investing in new generations of investigative journalists and in the informational value of a true public service”.

Sigfrido Ranucci’s reaction came via a Facebook post: “I have learnt from ANSA that Rai has suspended me from presenting *Report*. The reason is that I am alleged to have jeopardised the credibility of Report following the 2,800 articles published in two months by newspapers belonging to the Angelucci group and, in any case, pro-government outlets, including from within Rai itself,” he writes. “That is to say,” he continues, “from those whom Mollicone thanked yesterday for casting ‘shadows’ over me. That’s it.”

He then takes a swipe at those who will replace him: “Two people have been chosen to take my place who belittle the professionalism that has shaped the history of Report and public service broadcasting for 30 years,” he says, referring to the pair of correspondents who will present the programme from September. “This is not a farewell; I will no longer be presenting Report, but I will be leading the most important battle of my life for press freedom – I will do this for my children and for yours.” Finally, he is keen to remind viewers of his theatre engagements: “Tonight I’ll be in Favignana, tomorrow in Agrigento at the Teatro Efebo, and on the 30th in Folrinas near Alghero for Diario di un Trapezista.”

On the political front, Matteo Salvini was the first to comment: “That’s only right. Now let’s get to the bottom of this,” he wrote on social media. “Have they suspended Ranucci from presenting Report? I’m pleased, because his programmes were utterly specious and one-sided,” said Senate President Ignazio La Russa, commenting on the affair to Adnkronos. “I wouldn’t have suspended him over this particular incident but because of the investigations that have taken place over the years, which I’ve been ‘honoured’ to be the subject of – even though neither I nor anyone in my family for a hundred generations has ever had any run-ins with the law. And yet he dedicated incredible, truly incredible programmes to me.” He added: "So I couldn’t care less about the attack, who was responsible, who wasn’t, whether he knew about it or not. Or whether they removed him from that programme. I repeat, I’m happy because those programmes – at least the ones I saw, and I’ve only seen a few – were utterly baseless and one-sided."

"By choosing to entrust the hosting of Report to Giulia Presutti and Daniele Piervincenzi, Fratelli d’Italia hopes that the programme will finally return to doing what it is truly meant to do – the very reason why all citizens pay the licence fee – namely, investigative journalism," said the members of Fratelli d’Italia on the Rai Supervisory Commission. "The hope is that it will once again become a credible investigative programme, after years in which its original function has been distorted into a veritable vehicle for partisan political and ideological propaganda," the statement concludes.

“Rai’s decision condemns the victim of an attack,” said Sigfrido Ranucci’s lawyer, Roberto De Vita. "Report," he continued, "and the independence of public information. For the time being, he will not be presenting Report, but he will be leading the most important battle to defend the freedom of investigative journalism, in every forum." Milena Gabanelli, founder of the programme and its first presenter, also spoke to AdnKronos. She simply said: "Long live Report!"

Elly Schlein, secretary of the Democratic Party, commented on the matter: “The right has achieved exactly what it set out to do: after years of attacks and legal action against Ranucci and a programme deemed troublesome such as Report, they have now succeeded in getting it taken off the air. TeleMeloni didn’t even wait for the magistrates to clarify and shed light on what happened, and I believe this is the clearest demonstration that there was only one objective from well before this legal case began.” The comment was made on the sidelines of the Festa dell’Unità in Rivalta sul Mincio. The Democratic Party politician continued: “This is the last government to meddle in Rai affairs because we already have a unified proposal, together with the other opposition parties, to finally carry out the long-overdue reform, given that a European regulation states that Rai must be free and independent.” 

Barbara Floridia, Senator and former chair of the Parliamentary Supervisory Commission for Rai (representing the Five Star Movement), also commented: “Removing Sigfrido Ranucci from the presenting role on *Report* was one of this government’s objectives, and today they have achieved it. We have nothing against the journalists nominated to take over the presenting role, but the way this has been handled amounts to a veritable coup,” she says. She continues. “Not only are they ousting someone who, until proven otherwise, remains a victim, but there has been no real involvement of the editorial team. Italy is plunging back into the dark days of Berlusconi’s ‘Bulgarian Edict’ with what we might call the ‘Meloni Edict’. (...) From today, when the majority comes to talk to us about reconstituting the supervisory commission, our defences will be even higher. No dialogue with those who orchestrated and carried out this brutal, authoritarian and fascist operation. To those within Rai who are watching what is happening with dismay, we say: hold firm – it won’t be long before those responsible for this shambles have to pack their bags.”

"The decision taken by Rai is, in our view, completely unacceptable," write the long-standing correspondents of Report in a statement. "It is unacceptable," they continue, "both in terms of the method – given that the organisation has refused any dialogue with the team over recent weeks, leaving us to learn of the decision through the news agencies – and in terms of substance, given that the figures chosen are in no way representative of Report’s history and values." It is understood that they intend to resign en masse.

"The decision to remove Sigfrido Ranucci from presenting Report is extremely serious: Rai is punishing someone who, until proven otherwise, remains the victim of an attack, and is striking at one of the few public service programmes that still practise free and independent investigative journalism," said Nicola Fratoianni and Angelo Bonelli, the two leaders of the Green and Left Alliance, in unison. “Furthermore, there was no real involvement of the editorial team, who were forced to learn of the decision from the news agencies and are now ready to walk out of the programme en masse. Presutti and Piervincenzi are two excellent professionals and there is no prejudice against them. It is clear,” they concluded, “that the right has used the attack to dismantle Report.”

The decision follows a week of internal meetings at Rai. On Tuesday, the Chief Executive, Giampaolo Rossi, the Director of Legal Affairs, Francesco Spadafora, and the Director of Human Resources, Felice Ventura, had called a meeting to examine all aspects of the matter and assess a proposal for an alternative role for the journalist that would be in line with his qualifications. “Over the past few hours and days, Rai’s senior management have been working to remove me from *Report*,” Ranucci wrote on Facebook.

Yesterday, the Report correspondents expressed their opposition to “any suggestion of a presenter and head writer from outside the programme taking the helm of Report”. They emphasised that any other choice would have been regarded as “hostile and aimed at normalising and placing the programme under external control”. "It is now clear," reads a document issued by the correspondents, "that the announced removal of Sigfrido Ranucci as presenter of Report has only partly to do with the Lavitola affair and that it actually follows a specific political agenda. This is evident from the ferocity with which, using the judicial investigation into the attack as a pretext, certain media groups linked to parties in the ruling coalition have targeted the programme, its journalists and the main investigations broadcast, with the clear intention of delegitimising and discrediting one of the last bastions of freedom and journalistic independence within the public service".

“For this reason,” the journalists continued, “in light of the flurry of names that have been circulating in recent weeks, we express our opposition to any suggestion that an external presenter or head writer should take the helm of *Report*. The editorial team already possesses the necessary expertise, which has ensured the programme’s smooth running over the years. Any decision to the contrary will be regarded by us as hostile and aimed at standardising and placing the programme under external control.”