No goodbyes. Serena Bortone closed the program «Che will be…» yesterday on RaiTre, thanking the public but without making an appointment for next autumn. «This is the last episodea – he said -, I want to thank everyone (…). I have been honored to work with you in this great public service company of ours.” And she added: «I thank you, at home, who have followed us and supported us and who have grown episode after episode. Thank you for your love and support, I wish you a good summer and above all, from the bottom of my heart, good winds.”
Last Saturday, however, regarding fascism, he declared: «None of us would talk about fascism if they avoided singing the praises of the Decima Mas, making postage stamps about what the fascists were like, beating up a deputy in the chamber. I wouldn’t talk about fascism if they avoided doing all this, a minimum of decency would be enough.”
Bortone’s greeting appeared as a farewell to Rai, after the controversy following the case of Antonio Scurati, the writer whose monologue on April 25th would suddenly be deleted from the broadcast, according to the complaint post published at the time by the presenter herself. For Rai, which has always denied censorship, speaking of “misalignments”, i.e. misunderstandings between the various structures of the program, that post would have damaged the company, creating a huge controversy out of nothing.
Only a few days ago the outgoing CEO, Roberto Sergio, interviewed in public, said that Bortone should have been “fired” for her behavior and that “she was not punished”.
But a verification procedure has been opened by the company and, after Bortone’s hearing on 11 June, it is now awaiting the conclusion.
What will happen? But above all what will happen to the program? From her side, the presenter claims ratings that have grown over time. It must be said that, in fact, after the Scurati case, the viewership curve rose, achieving good results coinciding with the end of the competing programs on La7 and Il Nove. However, even before the case came to light, those ratings and that placement had ended up in the sights of the top management for a level of ratings considered unsatisfactory.
Now the story of the protest and that of the confirmation of the program are intertwined due to the timing. Excluding the possibility that the presenter could have signed for another publisher, with the transfer market now over, Bortone used a generic formula probably because she doesn’t know what fate awaits her. In fact, the leaders will only close the autumn schedules this week, which will be presented in Naples on 19 July. So a decision on the program is imminent but has not yet been made.
As for the outcome of the proceedings, Sergio’s words, so unexpectedly forceful on the eve of the European elections, a circumstance which irritated the government majority and caused the opposition to rise up, make it more difficult to decide. Firing Bortone, who is a Rai employee with the rank of editor-in-chief, is out of the question. Probably the sanction could be more symbolic (from warning to suspension) while, at risk is the program, which could change location or perhaps be halved with the justification of the ratings.
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