Report journalists are threatening to go on strike following Ranucci’s suspension: “No to impositions handed down from above”

"The in-house journalists on the Report editorial team, having taken note of the company’s arbitrary decision – for which no reasons have yet been given – to replace Sigfrido Ranucci as presenter of the programme, support and endorse all the demands made by the group of correspondents, who have announced that, unless Rai reconsiders its decision, they are prepared to walk out of the programme." This is stated in a document from the Report Journalists’ Assembly, which declares “a state of agitation and reserves the right to take further democratic action, including a strike”. This marks the first unified stance taken by the programme’s journalists following the decision by Viale Mazzini, taken on Friday 28 August, to remove Ranucci from the presenting role and replace him, from the start of the next season, with Giulia Presutti and Daniele Piervincenzi.

The day before the decision, Report’s correspondents had expressed their opposition to “any suggestion of an external presenter and head writer taking the helm of Report”, emphasising that within the team “there are, in fact, already the necessary professionals, who have ensured the programme has run smoothly over the years”. Today, the message from the in-house journalists is clear: we are ready to down tools. 

"Report – as stated in the General Assembly document – cannot exist without its correspondents and without its editorial team, production staff, filmmakers and editors, who over the years have developed specialist skills and work to ensure a high-quality programme that is a true expression of public service. Only a solid professional background and the authority earned in the field can, in fact, meet the production requirements and investigative demands of a complex, sensitive programme of the highest civic value, as Report has proven itself to be throughout its long history, offering the public a contribution inspired by the most authentic republican values”. The in-house journalists at Report, the statement continues, "are in no way prepared to accept impositions handed down from above which, failing to meet these criteria, stem from a purely political agenda that completely distorts the programme’s mission and DNA. They also express dismay at the method used by the company in its unilateral and unconsulted selection of the new presenters, who were announced to the press agencies before the team was informed. They are calling on the company to reverse the decisions taken, which are unacceptable to those who, professionally, have always identified with the identity and values of Report and which could force them to make different career choices. They are also calling – the document concludes – for the editorial team to be directly involved in corporate decisions, in order to preserve the autonomy and independence of a fundamental pillar of public service broadcasting.”

The atmosphere within the team working on Report, comprising both in-house staff and correspondents, remains very tense. Immediately following the decision taken by Rai regarding the presenter, the Report correspondents expressed their intention to resign en masse from the programme. “They’re right to resign because those names are suitable for other things but not for Report,” commented Ranucci himself. Earlier on Friday, he had branded his replacements as “two people who are a disgrace to the professionals who, for 30 years, have shaped the history of Report and public service broadcasting”, whilst announcing his intention to fight “for press freedom”.

Ranucci himself, interviewed by La Repubblica, said he would not rule out a hypothetical future in politics. Meanwhile, behind the scenes of the programme, not everyone shares the same view. A leading figure on the programme, Giorgio Mottola, did not hold back in his criticism of the (now) former team leader. “Sigfrido was out of line,” Mottola told Corriere, emphasising that Ranucci was wrong to claim a ‘brotherly friendship’ with Valter Lavitola, the fixer and mastermind behind the October attack on Ranucci himself. Mottola, together with journalist Giulio Valesini, was reportedly identified by a section of the Report team as a possible replacement for Ranucci in a hypothetical "Report 2.0" – a project presented to Rai days before the official announcement of the two replacements. As reported by the Corriere, a third presenter was to have rotated between Giulia Innocenzi, Bernardo Iovene and Paolo Mondani, alternating with the two main presenters. The proposal, however, came to nothing, and the Report journalists were divided between those who wanted to issue a statement calling for Ranucci’s reappointment and those who hesitated, also bringing up the issue of the presenter’s advances, as reported by two female journalists who had wanted to work on the programme. The rift became starkly apparent in the WhatsApp group, which was suddenly abandoned by a large number of its members, who regrouped in a second group in which, amongst the various names, Presutti – Ranucci’s replacement – is reportedly not included.