Ranucci: 'Many obstacles, but Report remains free.'

(by Francesca Pierleoni) Beyond "the obstacles that are put in place from time to time, including schedule changes, shortenings, extensions, and cuts, I must say that what unites this group and is extraordinary is the project of being in a free space, which will continue to be so as long as this team exists." This is according to Sigfrido Ranucci, co-author and host of the investigative program Report on Rai 3. The journalist was among the speakers at the meeting "Investigative Journalism: Duties and Responsibilities" at Il Libro Possibili, the festival supported by Pirelli, currently underway in Polignano a Mare. The element that holds Report together "is the sharing of this extraordinary project, that of embodying the spirit of public service at the service of the public who pay the license fee, who is the only reference publisher: it cannot be politics, whoever wins the elections, but the public who pays the license fee. Most people probably don't even vote, but they still have the right to be represented." Ranucci, answering his colleagues' questions, also touched on the issues of conflict in recent weeks with RAI's governance: "They cut four episodes of the audience's most beloved and highly regarded investigative program. I believe it's the first time this has happened in RAI's history; it's the first time Report has been penalized. It's not true that everyone was cut, and I believe there was a prior decision involving specific names." The other unknown factor concerns the temporary staff of Report and other RAI news programs, who could be hired by regional offices through a selection process: "The risk for us at Report is that we will squander ten years of experience, during which we have built up staff specialized in journalism and investigations with the resources of public service broadcasting." Turning to the themes of the festival meeting, "For investigative journalism to be credible, it requires courage and independence. And then it needs the means to do so, because it's a type of journalism that has distinct characteristics from simply reporting news. Investigating requires depth, knowledge, and specialization; it's a unique profession within journalism." At Report, "complaints arrive almost every time we broadcast. This is also a thermometer, in my opinion, of a sick country, so accustomed to living with its many ills that it considers them normal. I believe the antidote is free, investigative, independent journalism, and for this we must especially strengthen our colleagues in the local press. We don't think about it, but if it's true that this is a sick body, local journalists are its peripheral antibodies, who must intercept the evil before the body is destroyed. Instead, they are paid little, when they are paid at all. Often, they are left at the mercy of lawsuits that are often reckless, not having a company behind them like I do, RAI, and I feel very fortunate in this respect. Often, they instead have to deal with people with ties to the businessman of the moment, the politician of the moment, the criminal of the moment. We must say thank you to these reporters. The true hero in the world of information today is the local journalist." In today's world, "the easiest and most accessible tool for information is certainly the web. It's a medium of great freedom, but it's also a kind of drunken librarian, in the sense that priority is placed not on the truth of a story, but on its clickability. This often doesn't coincide with the truth, and I believe the journalist's job is to preside over the web with credibility, seriousness, and the ability to delve deeper. Also because today we see the internet flooded with monologues by politicians who create their own shows and columns. They post them on social media without any form of cross-examination, and every time we feel like we're handing these people a blank check for our freedom, our democracy."