Broadcaster RAI has rejected accusations of censorship and said it is transforming itself into a “modern digital media company”.
Journalists from Italian public broadcaster RAI have staged a one-day strike, accusing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government of suppressing free expression.
The journalists’ union Usigrai says the situation has worsened since Meloni took office at the end of 2022.
“We would rather lose one or more days of pay than our freedom,” Usigrai, the union that represents around 1,600 of RAI’s 2,000 journalists, said in a video on Monday defending the 24-hour strike.
Usigrai pointed to staffing problems and said departing employees were not being replaced while some journalists languished on temporary contracts.
“We have always fought against any attempt to restrict freedom of expression, but I want to make it clear that what has happened in the last few months is unprecedented,” said Vittorio di Trapani, RAI journalist and head of the Italian National Press Association (FNSI ). ) told Reuters news agency.
RAI rejected the complaints, accused the unions of staging a politically motivated strike and said the company had not imposed any censorship on its employees.
Despite the strike, the main midday news programs of RAI’s two main television channels continued to air as usual, while the 24-strong news channel RAI24 broadcast mostly pre-recorded programs.
As a public broadcaster whose top management is elected by politicians, the independence of RAI – which has a prime-time TV share of around 39 percent – has always been a topic of debate.
The rise to power of Meloni, who formed a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s far-right Lega party and the late Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia, has doubled concerns.
Italy’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) fell to 46th this year, down five from 2023, due to concerns about the government’s growing influence over the media and a series of recent lawsuits brought by politicians against journalists.
The issue of censorship at the broadcaster hit the headlines last month when a monologue by writer Antonio Scurati, timed to coincide with commemorations marking the end of fascist rule in 1943, was abruptly canceled by RAI.
Scurati, who has written historical novels about Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, had used the piece to criticize Meloni’s party for not rejecting its post-fascist roots.
RAI officials and Meloni denied censoring the monologue, and the prime minister subsequently posted the tract on her own Facebook page.
In its own video statement, RAI management said there was “no censorship” and that it was trying to transform the station into a “modern digital media company.”