Italy's Rai sacks journalist Ranucci

Media freedom organisations have expressed serious concern over the Italian public broadcaster Rai's decision to remove investigative journalist Sigfrido Ranucci from his role as presenter of the programme 'Report'. The groups state the decision, made without transparent reasoning, raises renewed fears of political interference in public service media and a failure to respect media freedom standards.

Sigfrido Ranucci and his team have faced multiple violations over recent years, including legal threats, verbal harassment, and political pressure from politicians and officials. In October 2025, he was the target of a bomb attack outside his home. A criminal investigation is ongoing, and businessman Valter Lavitola has been arrested as the alleged mastermind. No charges have been brought against Ranucci.

Despite this, Rai management suspended summer reruns of 'Report' on 10 July. Then, on 28 August, they announced Ranucci's removal from the programme, assigning the hosting role to two external journalists without providing a reason. The organisations state Ranucci and his team were removed "overnight, without transparency and reportedly through opaque negotiations outside ordinary union channels," learning of decisions through the press.

Political weaponization and shifting blame

The groups argue that Rai's actions jump ahead of the judiciary, transforming an ongoing investigation into a political weapon. They note that political condemnations of the 2025 bomb attack have given way to celebrations of Ranucci's removal. The Report editorial committee stated that politics within Rai allows officials to exploit the programme's lack of a formal editorial director, making decisions based on a purely political framework.

The committee also criticised the management's "uncoordinated methods" in selecting new hosts. The organisations are similarly concerned by sections of the Italian media, accusing them of shifting blame from the perpetrator of the bombing to the victim, Ranucci.

Violations of media freedom law

This sequence is described as a form of political interference and censorship, breaching Article 5 of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). That article calls on member states to safeguard the editorial independence of public service media and ensure citizens have access to a plurality of information. The groups state such pressure fits a documented pattern of media freedom backsliding in Italy.

Calls for action and solidarity

In response, the organisations call on political parties, government officials, and media institutions to halt all politicised personnel decisions concerning Ranucci and engage genuinely with journalists through ordinary channels. They urge reinforced protection for threatened journalists, including maintaining Ranucci's security detail regardless of his professional status.

They also demand urgent enforcement of the EMFA, particularly Article 5, to strengthen Rai's editorial and financial independence, and call for respect of deontological discipline in media coverage of the case. The undersigned organisations-including Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa, the European Federation of Journalists, ARTICLE 19 Europe, Free Press Unlimited, and the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom-state they will continue monitoring this case. They stand in solidarity with the Report staff, who they say are defending their professional rights and editorial independence to keep investigative journalism alive at Rai.