The journalists of the Italian public radio-television Rai are on strike today with the main demand to ensure pluralism and freedom of expression. The strike was announced by the Usigrai union, in which 1,800 journalists are registered out of the approximately 2,000 employed by the Italian broadcasting organization. The rest belong to the center-right trade union Unirai and are working normally today.

The Italian media officials who today decided to “cross their arms” underline that they are mobilizing “to defend the autonomy and independence of the public broadcaster from the attempt to massively control information by politics.” They request that “pluralistic, balanced and reliable information” be ensured at the same time.

Journalists’ reports in Italy concern criticisms of censorship by well-known singers at the last Sanremo Song Festival, the withdrawal of well-known presenters and journalists, the cancellation of the participation of the writer Antonio Scurati in a show about fascism and neo-fascism, and the reduction of ratings.

Meloni: No censorship problem

For its part, Rai responds that the strikers are “spreading false news, which damages the entire image of the company” and that “this strike mobilization has political and ideological motives”.

It is clear that the tones of the confrontation have risen noticeably. In this polarized climate, Berlusconi’s Forza Italia defends the few journalists who today decided not to strike, while the alliance of the Italian Left and Environmentalists responds that “the management of Rai chosen by the government of Giorgia Meloni, proved inferior to the circumstances”.

The Italian Prime Minister, for her part, denies that there is a censorship problem, because, as she says, she herself in the past experienced what it means to be banned from public television.

It is clear that for Rai, after seventy years of history, this period is anything but easy. After the hard confrontation of the past, with the Berlusconi group, now many of its “stars” have decided to find a new television roof in the American Warner group, which entered the Italian television market strongly. And the whole climate of internal tension, management’s heated disagreements with journalists certainly does not help in dealing with strong, private competition.