Rome, 20 July (LaPresse) – “I have learnt from the news agencies that Rai has launched, following Minister Urso’s request in recent days, checks on the sources and the accuracy of our investigations. It is doing so to protect its image. But has it ever protected mine – which, in part, is also Rai’s? It is paradoxical that Urso’s request arose from false information reported by certain newspapers.” So said Sigfrido Ranucci on Facebook. “I, along with the Report team, are ready to face yet another audit or investigation, having already passed all the others – some of which, such as those concerning Autogrill or the Tosi case, focused precisely on our working methods and the management of sources,” he continued. “The programme’s 30-year history proves that sources have always been selected with rigour. The narrative put forward by certain newspapers about myself, about *Report*, and about its history is shameful and appalling, and is aimed at undermining one of the last remaining bastions of free journalism in the country. I am not, and do not wish to be, a purist, but ‘Report’ is, and it has regarded the licence-fee-paying public as its sole point of reference. It deserves respect. It is the programme with the most award-winning journalists in the history of television; behind every episode lies an incredible amount of work, effort, rigour, courage and, above all – and this is what frightens people – independence and memory.”
Rai, Ranucci: “Ready for audits or checks, but ‘Report’ deserves respect”
Rome, 20 July (LaPresse) – “I have learnt from the news agencies that Rai has launched, following Minister Urso’s request in recent days, checks on the sources and the accuracy of our investigations. It is doing so to protect its image. But has it ever protected mine – which, in part, is also Rai’s? It is paradoxical that Urso’s request arose from false information reported by certain newspapers.” So said Sigfrido Ranucci on Facebook. “I, along with the Report team, are ready to face yet another audit or investigation, having already passed all the others – some of which, such as those concerning Autogrill or the Tosi case, focused precisely on our working methods and the management of sources,” he continued. “The programme’s 30-year history proves that sources have always been selected with rigour. The narrative put forward by certain newspapers about myself, about *Report*, and about its history is shameful and appalling, and is aimed at undermining one of the last remaining bastions of free journalism in the country. I am not, and do not wish to be, a purist, but ‘Report’ is, and it has regarded the licence-fee-paying public as its sole point of reference. It deserves respect. It is the programme with the most award-winning journalists in the history of television; behind every episode lies an incredible amount of work, effort, rigour, courage and, above all – and this is what frightens people – independence and memory.”
