The presenter Federico Ruffo, who currently does not have a journalist’s contract with Rai, will soon have one, with the title of editor-in-chief. Ruffo has been presenting ‘Mi manda Rai3’ since 2020; the programme returns to prime time on Fridays from 6 November, but his Rai contract lists his role as ‘programme planner-director’ – a production-related title that offers fewer safeguards and a salary far below that of a prime-time presenter. This is why Ruffo had sought the advice of a solicitor, who had written to the company. In such cases, Viale Mazzini is usually in no hurry. It postpones matters, allows cases to gather dust, relies on the pace of the civil courts, and passes the buck – as they say – to the stands. Not this time. The broadcaster has chosen to settle the dispute out of court, granting Ruffo what he was asking for, not least because he presents a prime-time programme on which the broadcaster is counting. Behind the scenes, the solution already has a name: the ‘Bortone ruling’. The best-known precedent at Rai is in fact that of Serena Bortone, who now presents ‘Stai Serena’ on Radio2. Bortone, who was a presenter on Raitre at the time, secured from Rai – again without any legal dispute – a switch from a programme producer-director contract to a journalistic one, with the title of editor-in-chief. Back then, the broadcaster was run by the left, a political camp to which Bortone is considered close. Today, the right wing is in charge, and Ruffo – who this summer was tipped to become the presenter of ‘Report’ – is seen as close to the right. In the chat logs between Sigfrido Ranucci and Valter Lavitola, which ended up in the case files of the investigation into the so-called ‘love bomb’, he was described as a staunch supporter of Giorgia Meloni. In the past, he had been linked to the Five Star Movement, but at Rai, as we know, political seasons come and go as easily as changing channels. The ruling, however, is always the same; only those who apply it change. There are those who take Rai to court, and those who have no need to.
