The Italian parliament on Thursday
elected four new directors to the state broadcaster Rai, two
from a government slate and two from an opposition list,
although the opposition was split on the vote.
The Lower House first elected a candidate close to Premier
Giorgia Meloni's rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party and a
TV journalist close to the leftwing opposition Green-Left
Alliance (AVS).
The FdI candidate was Federica Frangi and the Rai journalist
close to AVS was Roberto Natale.
The centre left was split on the vote with the centre-left
Democratic Party (PD) and the centrist Azione and Italia Viva
parties boycotting the vote for Natale, who was voted in solely
by the leftist populist 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the AVS.
AVS leader Angelo Bonelli said this showed that the "broad field
does not exist," referring to the sometime and erstwhile
difficult alliance of leftwing and centrist parties.
Rai parliamentary oversight panel chair Barbara Floridia
commended the M5S and AVS for "preventing there being a board of
directors deprived of the guard of the opposition forces and the
majority naming all the directors, this ensuring a fundamental
balance for the pluralism of information and the respect of the
various sensibilities in the country."
The Senate later Thursday elected a candidate close to the
ruling rightwing League party and a candidate close to the M5S
to the Rai board.
The new League-linked director is Antonio Marano while the
M5S-linked director is Alessandro di Majo. The centre-left
opposition was again split on the vote, as it had been in the
House earlier.
Meloni has said she is "rebalancing" Rai after past leftwing
bias amid claims she has stacked the public broadcaster with
like-minded appointees and driven out left-leaning journalists.
Rai staff have struck against her allegedly turning Rai into a
government mouthpiece.
Meloni has rejected the "Meloni TV" claims saying the left is
merely irked that Rai is no longer "PD TV", referring to the
main centre-left opposition party, the Democratic Party.
Following are bios of the new directors:
ALESSANDRO DI MAJO - Born in Rome on 20 October 1968, he has a
degree in Law. He works as a lawyer at the Di Majo Law Firm in
Rome, dealing, among other things, with copyright law, sports
law and information law. From 2002 to 2009 he was a member of
the Arbitration Board of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).
From 2018 to 2019 he was a Councilor at the supreme Court of
Cassation. Since 2022 he has been a Member of the Sports
Guarantee Board at the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). He
carries out research and teaching activities at national
universities. He collaborated (1999-2016) with "Il Sole 24 Ore"
business daily and has published about 130 articles, essays,
comments and five monographs. Since January 2022 he has been a
member of the Presidency Council and the General Council of
Confindustria Radio Televisioni.
FEDERICA FRANGI - Born in Rome on 8 May 1973, she has been a
professional journalist since 2005 with experience in press
offices and television broadcasters. She is currently in the
newsroom of Tg2, but has worked for a long time in the editorial
staff of 'Porta a Porta', alongside veteran star Rai broadcaster
Bruno Vespa. She is also involved in trade union activities:
until last February she was a national councilor of the Italian
Press Federation FNSI elected with the Stampa Libera e
Indipendente (Free and Independent Press) list, after having
been at the helm of the Associazione Stampa Romana and a member
of the board of free-speech group Lettera 22. In the autumn of
last year she was called to manage the presence of Brothers of
Italy (FdI) on TV, but she held the position for only one month
preferring to return to her work at Rai.
ANTONIO MARANO - Born in Ascoli Satriano (Foggia) in 1956, a
graduate in architecture, he is a freelance journalist and
television manager. He began his career in 1983 gaining
experience in various television stations. In 1994 he was
elected deputy for the Northern League (now League) and
appointed Undersecretary of Telecommunications. He was hired by
Rai in 2002 as a manager with the role of Director of Rai2 and
two years later he was appointed Director of the Sports Rights
Department. Since 2010 he has assumed responsibility for the
editorial and production management of Rai Notte. In 2011 he was
appointed Member of the Board of Directors of Rai Corporation.
Since March 2016 he has been President of Rai Pubblicità, its
advertising arm. In January 2021 he became commercial director
of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026, the foundation organizing
the 2026 Winter Olympics.
ROBERTO NATALE - Born in Rome in 1958, a graduate in philosophy,
he has been a professional journalist since 1990. In 1988 he was
hired as a trainee journalist at the Rai Regional Headquarters
in Marche. In 1989 he joined the editorial staff of the Regional
Office for Lazio where, the following year, he became editor
and, later, was also entrusted with the duties of presenter.
From 1991 to 1994 he was the spokesperson for the journalists of
the Fiesole Group. From 1996 to 2006 he was Secretary of Rai
trade union Usigrai. From 2007 to 2012 he was President of the
FNSI. A candidate for the Senate for the leftist Sinistra
Ecologia Libertà in the 2013 political elections, he was not
elected. From 2013 to 2018 he held the position of spokesperson
for the President of the Chamber of Deputies Laura Boldrini, a
leftwing former UNHCR spokesperson. In 2018 he returned to
service at Rai. During this period, he collaborated in the
launch of the Rai Corporate Newsletter and was appointed head of
the "Social Responsibility" structure. In October 2018, he was
awarded the position of Deputy Editor-in-Chief and in July 2019
the title of Editor-in-Chief. In 2022, he was appointed Director
of the "Rai for Sustainability - ESG" Department.
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