The elderly genius of Italian journalism Vittorio Feltri (seven months younger than US President Biden) scornfully criticizes Ilaria Salis by attacking the “maids of Catanzaro”. Massimo Razzi, Director of Quotidiano del Sud (based in Cosenza) responds with a strong headline: “Vittorio Feltri, fuck you from the women of Catanzaro”. Institutional Catanzaro mobilizes with the mayor in the front row, threatening to appeal to the court. And Feltri mumbles an apology to La Zanzara, on Radio 24.
This is the latest controversy, even within Italian journalism. But it won’t be the last if Feltri has decided – as it seems he has decided – to say and write everything he thinks. Recently the Court of Cassation confirmed the conviction for the title he dedicated in Libero to the mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi: “Hot Potato”.
first day
This story begins like this: Feltri in the Giornale comments on the photos of Ilaria Salis, formerly detained in chains in Hungary, on her first day in Brussels after being elected to the European Parliament. He writes: “She is dressed like a waitress from Catanzaro, the lowest thing you can imagine”.
Massimo Razzi intervenes with an editorial, sending Feltri to hell, as “a lady from Catanzaro would say listening to your incredible tirade”. If Razzi chose these words (“which I have never used before in the newspaper and I hope never to use again”), it is because “if you speak politely and sociologically to these people about ‘body shaming’ and ‘North-South racism’, they tell you that you are the usual exponent of ‘politically correct’ and they call you, just to please, a ‘pidiota, do-gooder’”. Razzi reminds Feltri that “with Calabria, you are a repeat offender. Because, in the 80s, in a report from San Luca, you defined the women of San Luca as ‘old, clumsy and black as insects’”. Again: “Do you know that in Catanzaro, as in all of Calabria, there are engineers, lawyers, historians, philosophers and psychologists who would tear you to pieces in any discussion? But no, you, perched at your mahogany desk with the license plates and the classic, untouched encyclopedia behind you, think you have the right to spout big words. The others are too polite to answer you anyway. Or they think: ‘He’s of a certain age, let’s just say it’. Here, this time, however, you can’t ignore it. Even when you’ve reached the age of dotage, you can’t allow yourself to spout any bullshit that comes to mind. Respect for others is not optional. And I hope that many women from Calabria, from Catanzaro and all the other provinces, will answer you with the first sentence of this text”.
“racist phrases”
Catanzaro Mayor Nicola Fiorita, an independent center-left candidate, demanded that Feltri apologize “to Catanzaro and to the women who toil in bars and restaurants with great dignity. We will take him to court for his unacceptable insults to our city and for his racist remarks. These are the champions of differentiated autonomy. I am proud of our splendid women who, with dignity, elegance and professionalism, carry out a very important job every day for hospitality and for families.”
Then, speaking to the microphones of Zanzara, the program of Cruciani and Parenzo on Radio 24, Feltri (almost) apologized: “If the mayor was offended, I apologize, but I don’t understand the reason for the offense, what did I care – he said – I’ve already been to Catanzaro and it’s not even bad”. Fiorita, also connected, said ok, that’s fine: “Feltri never apologizes, Raggi knows something about it, and if he decided to do so, even if through gritted teeth, it means he understood he had made a big mistake. That’s enough for me. But we must not make the mistake of lowering our guard in the defense of our land and our children”.
(in the photo, Massimo Razzi)
