“Ranucci isn’t Biagi. He should have left. The video is like cocaine.” Rizzo Nervo speaks out

“I’ve seen them, I know them. I’ve seen RAI journalists go on air and lose their heads; I’ve seen level-headed professionals turn into pathological liars, blowing their own trumpets, believing themselves to be all-powerful. Being on camera is like a drug, like cocaine. I was editor-in-chief of Tg3 and I remember the editorial committee coming into my office to warn me: ‘Editor, the colleague you’ve removed from the presentation is threatening to throw herself out of the window.’ And what did Nino Rizzo Nervo, the editor-in-chief, say in reply? ‘That, fortunately, we were on the first floor.’”

Is Sigfrido Ranucci a victim of a purge like Santoro and Biagi? “It was I who brought Biagi back on screen. But Ranucci is neither Biagi nor Santoro. He’s only got himself into this mess.” Nino Rizzo Nervo is now editor-in-chief of La Gazzetta del Sud, having spent his entire working life at Rai. He headed TGR and TG3, was appointed to the board of directors, and served as editor-in-chief of TG La7. He is a figure from the Christian Democratic left (he was deputy secretary-general at Palazzo Chigi in the Gentiloni government) and oversaw Biagi’s return to the screen and the settlement with Santoro. I ask whether Biagi ever took legal action against Rai, and Rizzo Nervo replies: “He did nothing, not even a dispute. Just as, for that matter, Milena Gabanelli, the founder of *Report*, did nothing. Rai at the time wanted to withdraw her indemnity, and Gabanelli, being the professional she was, decided to leave. She simply left, with style. Biagi interviewed Buscetta but didn’t go out for dinner with him, as Ranucci did with Lavitola.” Yet Ranucci still defends Lavitola, the friend who filled his car with explosives, whilst Maria Rosaria Boccia, another of Ranucci’s friends, is launching her new book entitled “Guai a chi lo tocca. Io, Sigfrido e le Tempeste’. Rizzo Nervo, almost with a hint of mild anger, comments: ‘I can understand a mistake, but after the investigations, I would have expected a simple statement from Ranucci: “Lavitola is no longer my friend and I am bringing a civil claim.”’

Ranucci has taken Rai to court and Rai is in a legal dispute with Ranucci, just as Paolo Ruffini was in the past, having been removed from the management of Rai 3. The Ruffini case is now being used as a comparison with Ranucci, but Rizzo Nervo stops me: “In Ruffini’s case, the political motivation was clearly evident. Rai offered him a bogus post. I cannot assess Ranucci’s case, but at first glance they do not seem comparable to me. You see, even the story that Ranucci has been demoted – because he will no longer manage the multi-million budget he used to manage – raises another issue. Since when has a presenter managed budgets worth millions? Can you imagine Agostino Saccà or Carlo Freccero having these prerogatives taken away from them by a presenter? Ranucci was a hybrid, holding two posts simultaneously, and allowing that to happen demonstrates the incompetence of a company – a company that has been in the newspapers for three months over the replacement of a presenter, one of the most natural things in the world.”

As if it were a game, the editor describes Ranucci’s replacement as the formation of a government: “There were consultations. Corsini acted as the head of state, the one who assigns the role, and we had the exploratory presenters, the editorial team that withdrew its confidence – just as in the Chamber of Deputies – and there were also the mavericks and the hidden card. And finally, there is Ranucci”. Nino Rizzo Nervo, who has usually sided with those who’ve been purged, fails to do so this time: “You can’t be friends with a criminal, especially given the nature of the programme. Ranucci should have left of his own accord. What’s the point of seeing a journalist lean out from a balcony and shout: ‘These are my people!’?” The editor-in-chief, who loves Rai and detests those who stand on the shoulders of giants – those who quote Montanelli every day, thereby committing ‘Montanellicide’ – says that at times Rai seems to him like ‘Il Deserto dei Tartari’. “They wait for the enemy – which in this case is the advance of modernity – and whilst they wait, they haggle over minor posts. Do you know what I hear left-wing MPs saying? ‘FdI has the editor-in-chief, but we’ve secured two department heads.’ The left, too, bears enormous responsibility. After four years, they’ve realised the Supervisory Committee is paralysed. Why haven’t they taken over La Russa’s office? Why are they only now realising Rai is paralysed? Because we’re on the eve of the elections.” Nino Rizzo Nervo uses this phrase, “we’ve reached the stage of second-rate favours”, and he also looks back with regret on the Berlusconi era, which he fought fiercely against: “Years have passed and today I can say that Berlusconi understood television, and Rai never destroyed it – let’s be clear – for his own gain. I’m not scandalised by replacing Ranucci, but one cannot rejoice when the iconic presenters – Fazio, Berlinguer, Augias, Annunziata – leave. One can even accept their departure, but only if new figures and new programmes are created – not programmes that attract just one per cent of the audience. I hear it being called ‘Telemeloni’, but to me it sounds like ‘Telepasticcioni’.” When Biagi returned to Rai, he asked only – as Rizzo Nervo recalls – for a small studio at home because his legs could no longer support him.” The hearing to discuss Ranucci’s urgent appeal against Rai has been set for 25 September. Will Ranucci’s arguments hold up, or will Rai’s? “Ranucci will come out of this affair, but he’ll come out badly, just like Rai. Do you know what Rai’s strength still is? The power of the remote control: pressing buttons one, two and three.” Would Rizzo Nervo also like to see it privatised? “Rai plays a balancing role in the market. Privatising it isn’t the solution; all we need is a capable, well-thought-out structure. What’s the point of having a television broadcaster where there’s no difference? With great carelessness, a series is moved from Rai 1 to Rai 2. Whilst waiting for Aspettando i Tartari, Rai is thus consumed by melancholy.”