In the evening hearing before the Supervisory Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, the top management of Viale Mazzini responded to some of the most delicate issues that have affected the company in recent months. Not just the Scurati case, with the announcement of disciplinary proceedings against the presenter Serena Bortone. The CEO Roberto Sergio and the general director Giampaolo Rossi spoke on the Sanremo controversy over the hosting of John Travolta, on the Usigrai strike, on Roberto Saviano’s program which was canceled from the schedules last season. And also on the role of the government in the decisions of the company, renamed TeleMeloni by the most critics who denounce constant interference in the choices of Viale Mazzini. «The Pavia Observatory considered that at the beginning of the legislature – from October 2022 to the first quarter of 2023, Fuortes management – the presence of the executive appeared higher than the average of previous governments, around 40%, when by practice the average is around 33%”, replied Sergio, “this presence has gradually decreased, returning to the percentages recorded in previous legislatures, in the second part of the period considered, therefore during our mandate”.
Di Mare’s service status
Among the events that have most agitated the company in recent weeks is that of the journalist Franco Di Mare’s announcement that he has mesothelioma, an aggressive tumor due to exposure to asbestos dust, which he may have come into contact with during his work as a correspondent in the Balkans. Di Mare had said that the top management of the public television had not responded to his request to receive the service record, a document that certifies where the employee worked and for how long. “It was sent yesterday to Franco Di Mare, via certified e-mail, with documentation that he had requested,” Sergio declared, answering the questions of the journalist’s lawyer. The company then also took action on the John Travolta case, which had agitated Rai during the days of the Sanremo Festival. The actor showed up wearing shoes for which he is the testimonial. «From the internal audit it emerged that neither Rai employees nor external collaborators were aware of the actor’s desire to wear shoes with the U-Power company logo, little known to the public, not recognized before entering , and the contract stipulated with the Divina Luna company expressly provided for the prohibition on introducing elements of advertising or promotional value unless authorized by Rai”, the CEO’s version, “the performance violated the agreements, we have started an action to civil court of Rome, against Divina Luna and U-Power, for breach of contract and violation of the obligations of correctness, for compensation for damages, including reputational ones. Furthermore, the payment of the entire compensation for Travolta’s performance has been suspended.”
Saviano and the confrontation between the leaders
Rossi intervenes on the strike of the Rai editorial staff proclaimed by Usigrai and partly boycotted by the newly formed centre-right union Unirai. «There was no anti-union behavior on the part of the company during the strike, but a spontaneous presence which allowed the news to be broadcast», said the director, «a legitimate presence as established by the sentences which equate the freedom of strike to that of not striking. The strike was supported by 56% of all journalists and 71% if only those present are counted. If membership had been higher it would not have been possible to broadcast the news. The turnout was not such as not to allow the most important editions to be broadcast”. And he reports that the journalists who went on air were subjected to insults and threats. A passage was also dedicated to Insider, the four-episode program by Roberto Saviano which was canceled from the schedule at the beginning of last season despite having already been recorded. «I asked the director Stefano Coletta to include Insider in the next summer or winter schedules», said Sergio, closing the story for now. Lastly, also the long-awaited discussion between the leaders of Italian politics on the eve of the European elections: «There will be a single discussion between all the candidate leaders, before the vote, we are working so that it can be hosted by Rai».
