“I thought about throwing myself out the window, convinced that my career was over.” In Piazza San Giovanni in Ragusa, journalist Sigfrido Ranucci, presenter of Report, talks about one of the most dramatic moments of his life. He revealed to the audience of the “A Tutto Volume” festival the moment of despair he experienced during a 2014 investigation into the Veronese administration. The then mayor of Verona, Flavio Tosi, accused him of building a false dossier with RAI’s slush funds, asking for disciplinary measures against him. Although Tosi was later convicted of defamation, Ranucci was unable to avoid the pressure and heavy judgments surrounding him.
“I had a bad thought – confessed Ranucci, returning to talk about that dramatic moment – I thought about throwing myself out the window because of how hurt I felt. The reactions that took place at that moment were very harsh towards me, I was truly convinced that I had ended a career that had yet to take off. It was a truly difficult moment in my life, the most complicated.” At that critical moment, it was a phone call from his son that saved him, causing him to reflect on the importance of life and not to give up.
During the meeting, the journalist answered questions from magistrate Bruno Giordano, talking about his journalistic career and the multiple investigations he has conducted over the years, including the one on the use of white phosphorus. And to the question dedicated to public service, Ranucci had no doubts: “Let’s keep the public service. I was free to do my job, but I can tell you that if someone wants to be free he can do it because I believe that independence is a state of the soul”. And the investigations? “They are the most exciting thing in my life,” he said, paraphrasing an anecdote. And he concluded: “Journalistic investigations are a bit like this, the need to transform necessity into a point of strength and resilience”.
Ranucci presented his book “The Choice” published by Bompiani.
