Those who believed the “Scurati case” was now obscured or archived had misunderstood the disagreements at the top of Rai, which also emerged yesterday at the meeting of the Supervisory Commission.
A clash between president Marinella Soldi and CEO Roberto Sergio, initiator of disciplinary proceedings against the presenter of the “Che Sara” program, Serena Bortone, accused of having violated company policy with a post on the censorship affair which would have prevented the writer to recite a monologue on April 25th. President Soldi in fact contested Sergio’s decision, speaking of a “much more complex situation”.
Rainews – Two weeks later, and after the hornet’s nest of controversy for the non-participation of the writer Antonio Scurati in “Che will be…” on Rai3, the presenter, who reported the case on social media, was touched by a letter of complaint disciplinary action by the CEO Sergio, who took action following the journalist’s initiative to publicize the story and hold the company’s top management to account.
Precisely that post pushed the CEO Sergio to initiate proceedings against the presenter, provoking the reaction of the opposition and the Usigrai union, who spoke of an “unacceptable and threatening” decision.
Now comes the distancing from the Rai president: “I don’t think that the disciplinary proceedings against Serena Bortone do justice to the matter, nor do it do Rai any good.” “What was reported by the CEO to the Supervisory Commission – continues Soldi – partially recounts what happened, without mentioning any significant aspects. Without prejudice to company policies, the so-called Scurati case is still the subject of checks by the company Internal Audit management, for which the president has the powers. The draft results of this audit were viewed by both me and the CEO and highlight a much more complex situation than that described by the CEO, which requires a more complete approach”. Roberto Sergio denied any complaints and stated that the affair had caused “reputational damage to the company”.
The day before, in the Supervisory Commission, the CEO had explained that “Bortone was accused, as has happened in similar cases, of the post published on social media, in violation of company policy regulations. The dispute is a necessary action and will follow the procedure established by the regulation. Neither the participation of the writer Scurati nor the reading of the monologue, later authorized and carried out by Bortone herself, was prohibited.” The presenter will have five days to provide her version
At this point the outcome of the audit becomes decisive even in the face of the strong protests that have arisen in defense of Bortone from parties, unions and associations. The united opposition requests the hearing of Bortone and the director of Insights Paolo Corsini, in Supervision.
In a joint note, the equal opportunities commissions of Fnsi, Usigrai and Odg and the Giulia Giornaliste association expressed “full solidarity and closeness to the journalist Serena Bortone: “It is a ridiculous accusation in the digital era, which fails to cover the clumsy attempt to sanction the presenter for having torn the veil of censorship, so eagerly denied but blatantly evident. She is blamed for the damage to RAI’s image, due to the global echo case, caused instead by those who attempted to prevent Scurati from his monologue”.
Hence “the strong concern for the use of disciplinary tools with an old intimidating flavor with the intention of silencing critical voices, forgetting that criticism is the basis of democracy. For this reason we will continue to monitor”, concluded the note.
