Two more cases of suspected censorship emerge in Rai after the case of Antonio Scurati’s monologue on April 25th. The cases once again concern «What will be» on Rai3 hosted by Serena Bortone and were reported by other writers: Nadia Terranova and Jennifer Guerra. Interviewed by the newspaper «Il Manifestato», Terranova spoke about her case which dates back to last March. Those were the days in which the controversy broke out over the police charges on the student march in Pisa. Terranova said she was contacted by the program’s editorial team, who asked her to write a monologue on the story and which she would have to read herself. «I did it, but the text was not considered suitable for the episode».
The case of Nadia Terranova
The writer said she was “quite amazed when I was asked to change my monologue”. In the interview Terranova added: «Evidently there are some issues that are better not talked about. I experienced it with my monologue on the charges against the students of Pisa, but as we see it is not the only case.” The writer cites for example the case of Giorgia Meloni’s complaint against the philologist Luciano Canfora: «It seems to me that a form of self-censorship is almost expected. When I told this story to people I know I was told: “well, what did you expect?”. “As if we took it for granted that we can be uncomfortable but only up to a certain point. Here, paradoxically, I almost prefer those who are openly servile to those who accept being inconvenient but only a little.”
The case of Jennifer Guerra
Then there is the case of Jennifer Guerra who said in Brescia Oggi that she was “treated like Antonio Scurati”. The writer says she was invited to Serena Bortone’s program «Quante storie», but her participation was skipped at the last minute. “My participation was taken for granted,” says the 29-year-old writer who deals with feminist issues. But she learned of the about-face after “a phone call with an author” the day before the broadcast. «Since the theme of the episode was women’s rights, I answered the author’s questions (which I don’t remember in detail) criticizing the actions of the Meloni government, in particular on the issue of abortion. There hadn’t yet been an amendment to the Pnrr, but I told her that Meloni was legitimizing anti-abortionists and undermining the right to abortion in a subtle way.”
The writer says that at the end of the phone call she was told again “that shortly thereafter I would know how to connect to the programme”. But from that moment «I had no further news of the program until 10 in the evening. The author wrote me a message to tell me that she was sorry but that there was no space in the lineup for my intervention. I remember well that I immediately told my husband that I suspected the connection had failed because I had criticized the government. After the Scurati issue, I am even more convinced that my suspicions were well founded.” Guerra is certain that there is no responsibility on the part of the author or the presenter: «Indeed, her behavior after Scurati’s censorship was truly admirable. I didn’t think I would find myself talking about censorship, but now everything makes me think I’ve suffered it.”
Read also:
Tags: Suspicions censorship Rai cases writers Terranova Guerra investigated monologue aired invitation reneged minute
