The situation is no longer perceived with nuances and the journalists of Rai, the Italian public television, have decided to stand up. After a year and a half of changes in programming, dismissals of presenters and crude attempts at censorship, the workers proposed an unusual 24-hour strike on Monday to “defend their autonomy and independence” from “political control” and “ censorship attempts” while the management accuses the organizing union, Usigrai, of spreading “fake news.” The strike comes after weeks of protests by workers over what they define as “suffocating control” so that information serves as a “megaphone” for the Executive of the far-right Giorgia Meloni, a complaint that has been joined by the opposition, which accuses to the direction of having turned Rai into “Telemeloni”.
Early in the morning, before the strikes began, a statement was read: “Rai journalists, for the first time in many years, are completely abstaining from working to protest against the decisions of the leadership.” Among the issues against which the editorial staff stands, they mention “not stabilizing precarious workers”, but also that “RAI tried to censor a monologue on April 25, and then, with obvious difficulties, tried to turn it into an economic issue.” ”, in reference to the veto of the writer Antonio Scurati. “We prefer to lose one or several days of salary rather than lose our freedom, convinced that the freedom and autonomy of public service is a value for everyone. And the Rai belongs to everyone,” the workers wrote.
The strike was boycotted by members of Unirai, a minority union belonging to the right, which managed to have the day’s news programs broadcast. But the journalists who supported her took the opportunity to explain the situation through different forums. One of them was the Foreign Press Association, where a veteran Rai journalist assured that she must negotiate “every word of the chronicles” so that they can be broadcast.
The company replied, however, that “the decision to go on strike for reasons that have nothing to do with workers’ rights falls within ideological and political motivations,” in a harsh statement, in which it asks Usigrai “ to stop promoting fake news that damages the image of the company.” “No censorship or gag has been placed on the information,” adds the management, which has managed to keep the new union Unirai on its side, which believes that Rai “must be relaunched, not dirty.”
The fight for control of the media in Italy reached its peak with Silvio Bersluconi, owner of Mediaset, in power. However, even then, public broadcasters were divided between parties in what was known as the lottizzazione, a kind of historical distribution of the channels, born in times of the Christian Democracy and the Communist Party. The prime minister, particularly belligerent with the critical press, is now moving towards a concentration of related newspapers, television and radio stations that will probably culminate with the sale of the AGI agency in the coming days to Antonio Angelucci, a League deputy who has already It has three newspapers completely related to the Italian Government.
Meloni first secured absolute control of the public media through major changes at Rai. Never before has a Government had the almost unanimous support of the three main channels (Rai1, Rai2 and Rai3). Then, he guaranteed the loyalty of Mediaset, the media empire of the same family that financed for years the party with which it forms a government coalition: Berlusconi-Forza Italia. The father of his daughter, the journalist Andrea Giambruno, also works in this company. But the protests are growing, and the unions have extended them to the streets, wallpapering the city with posters denouncing the situation.
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