Ranucci vows to fight for press freedom and slams "character assassination" after being dropped as Report host amid political pressure.Italian state broadcaster RAI on Friday confirmed it was removing Sigfrido Ranucci as host of Report, the investigative programme he has fronted for a decade, ending months of speculation and triggering an outcry from journalists' unions and the political opposition.RAI said the veteran reporter, 64, was being handed "three possible professional relocation options" befitting his rank and experience - reportedly a role at RAI News, at the news channel Tg3, or a foreign correspondence post. Report will now be co-hosted by two younger RAI journalists: Giulia Presutti, 36, and Daniele Piervincenzi, 45. Political pressure The move follows a sustained campaign by government politicians and conservative commentators calling for Ranucci's removal over his friendship with businessman Valter Lavitola, who has confessed to organising last October's bomb attack outside Ranucci's home in Pomezia, south of Rome. Prosecutors allege Lavitola ordered the bombing not to harm Ranucci but to boost his popularity ahead of a possible entry into politics, from which Lavitola hoped to benefit; Lavitola was arrested over the plot in August. Four people accused of planting the device, which destroyed cars belonging to Ranucci and his daughter, were arrested in June, while a Cameroonian intermediary remains at large. Political reaction Right-wing politicians, led by Lega leader and deputy premier Matteo Salvini, seized on the revelations to demand Ranucci's suspension, while critics accused him of failing to publicly condemn Lavitola for the attack and questioned whether he had known about it in advance - a claim prosecutors have not supported. Conservative media also highlighted a consensual relationship Ranucci had with a young intern and unproven allegations that he harassed female Report staff, which he denies.  In a social media post on Friday, Salvini welcomed the decision by RAI, saying: "Now let's get some clarity".   Ignazio La Russa, senate president and a senior figure in premier Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Fratelli d'Italia party, said he was "happy" at the news, claiming that Ranucci "produced absolutely specious and one-sided programmes." Fratelli d'Italia MP Federico Mollicone had claimed that 43.5 per cent of Report's investigations - 202 of the 404 examined since the current government took office - had targeted his party and the Meloni coalition, while there were only seven investigations into the centre-left opposition Partito Democratico (PD) and just one involving the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S). Report has long been a thorn in the side of politicians across the spectrum, particularly on the right, with its exposés frequently prompting - largely unsuccessful - lawsuits. With Ranucci at the helm, Report uncovered several major stories that shook the Meloni government, including scandals involving former culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano and former tourism minister Daniela Santanchè, both of whom subsequently resigned. "TeleMeloni" takeover The centre-left opposition seized on Ranucci's dismissal as further evidence of what it calls Meloni's creeping control over RAI, which critics have dubbed "TeleMeloni." Ranucci's fate had been "already written", PD leader Elly Schlein claimed on Friday. "The right achieved exactly what it was aiming for. After years of attacks and complaints against Ranucci and Report, a programme deemed inconvenient, they have now achieved their goal of shutting it down" - Schlein said - "TeleMeloni didn't even wait for the magistrates to shed light on what happened, and I believe this is the best demonstration that the goal was one and one only, well before this legal case: to shut down Report." M5S senator Barbara Floridia - who resigned as president of the Italian parliamentary RAI Supervisory Commission last month, citing a prolonged institutional deadlock and a systematic boycott by the government majority - slammed the ousting of Ranucci as a result of what she termed the "Meloni Edict".  "Character assassination" Ranucci, who is not accused of any crime, said he learned of his dismissal as Report host on Friday from news agency ANSA. Speaking in recent days during a book tour - which has continued to draw large, supportive crowds - Ranucci described the coverage of the past two months as amounting to a campaign of "character assassination... perhaps unprecedented in the history of our country, and perhaps even globally" and "a sort of political pillorying by party newspapers." He said that much of the coverage - comprising "2,800 articles" - had been printed in newspapers owned by the Angelucci group, headed by Lega politician Antonio Angelucci. He claimed that this coverage "served to cast a shadow over my actions with false articles that were preparatory to the decision to replace me." Following RAI's announcement, Ranucci said the choice of Presutti and Piervincenzi as his replacements "mortifies" the programme's history, and signalled he would pursue legal action over the move. His predecessor as Report host, Milena Gabanelli - who like several other former RAI journalists now works for rival broadcaster La7 - has said she had no interest in returning to the role. Asked by reporters on Friday about Ranucci being axed as host, she declined to comment. "Slap in the face" Ranucci told crowds in Favignana on Friday night that the foreign correspondent role he was offered by RAI was in Cairo. "Perhaps they hope I might end up like Regeni," he said, in reference to the Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni who was abducted, tortured and murdered in the Egyptian capital in 2016. Referring to the appointment of the programme's new hosts, he said: "Those names are good for other things, but not for Report. It's a slap in the face to meritocracy, to the Report team, and to what it has demonstrated over the years, to its history, to its independence." Newsroom in revolt The decision has provoked fierce internal resistance. Report's editorial committee said in a statement, issued shortly before RAI's announcement was confirmed, that "politics is taking advantage of a regulatory vacuum," noting that the programme has no formal editorial director, no dedicated masthead and only limited union representation, leaving it exposed to being "overridden." The committee said the alleged justifications for removing Ranucci were nothing new, having already been examined and dismissed in internal audits and hearings before parliament's RAI oversight committee without any sanctions being imposed. It voiced alarm at reports of "opaque negotiations" conducted outside ordinary union channels, warning that the affair risked "a form of censorship." According to Italian media, Report journalists have threatened to resign en masse in protest, while the choice of Presutti and Piervincenzi was reportedly not shared by the wider newsroom. Right-wing politicians have separately criticised Ranucci for comparing himself, in a social media post, to Italian anti-mafia and anti-terrorism figures such as Aldo Moro, Piersanti Mattarella, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, after writing that Italy had killed "all its best men" to silence them. Ranucci had a two-person police escort before the bombing; it was increased to six afterwards. He has lived under protection since 2021 owing to threats connected to his investigations into organised crime and political and business corruption. "This is not a farewell" - Ranucci wrote in a social media post on Friday - "I will no longer host Report, but I will lead the most important battle of my life for press freedom, I will do it for my children and for yours, I refuse to leave future generations this monstrous world, governed by monstrous and cowardly people who cannot tolerate free journalism and independent judges." Photo credit: Andrea Raffin / Shutterstock.com

Italian state broadcaster RAI on Friday confirmed it was removing Sigfrido Ranucci as host of Report, the investigative programme he has fronted for a decade, ending months of speculation and triggering an outcry from journalists' unions and the political opposition. RAI said the veteran reporter, 64, was being handed "three possible professional relocation options" befitting his rank and experience - reportedly a role at RAI News, at the news channel Tg3, or a foreign correspondence post. Report will now be co-hosted by two younger RAI journalists: Giulia Presutti, 36, and , 45. The move follows a sustained campaign by government politicians and conservative commentators calling for Ranucci's removal over his friendship with businessman Valter Lavitola, who has confessed to organising last October's  in Pomezia, south of Rome. Prosecutors allege Lavitola ordered the bombing not to harm Ranucci but to boost his popularity ahead of a possible entry into politics, from which Lavitola hoped to benefit;  over the plot in August. Four people accused of planting the device, which destroyed cars belonging to Ranucci and his daughter, , while a Cameroonian intermediary remains at large. Right-wing politicians, led by Lega leader and deputy premier Matteo Salvini, seized on the revelations to demand Ranucci's suspension, while critics accused him of failing to publicly condemn Lavitola for the attack and questioned whether he had known about it in advance - a claim prosecutors have not supported. Conservative media also highlighted a consensual relationship Ranucci had with a young intern and unproven allegations that he harassed female Report staff, which he denies.  In a social media post on Friday, Salvini welcomed the decision by RAI, saying: "Now let's get some clarity".   Ignazio La Russa, senate president and a senior figure in premier Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Fratelli d'Italia party, said he was "happy" at the news, claiming that Ranucci "produced absolutely specious and one-sided programmes." Fratelli d'Italia MP Federico Mollicone had claimed that 43.5 per cent of Report's investigations - 202 of the 404 examined since the current government took office - had targeted his party and the Meloni coalition, while there were only seven investigations into the centre-left opposition Partito Democratico (PD) and just one involving the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S). Report has long been a thorn in the side of politicians across the spectrum, particularly on the right, with its exposés frequently prompting - largely unsuccessful - lawsuits. With Ranucci at the helm, Report uncovered several major stories that shook the Meloni government, including scandals involving former culture minister  and former tourism minister , both of whom subsequently resigned. The centre-left opposition seized on Ranucci's dismissal as further evidence of what it calls Meloni's creeping control over RAI, which critics have dubbed "TeleMeloni." Ranucci's fate had been "already written", PD leader Elly Schlein claimed on Friday. "The right achieved exactly what it was aiming for. After years of attacks and complaints against Ranucci and Report, a programme deemed inconvenient, they have now achieved their goal of shutting it down" - Schlein said - "TeleMeloni didn't even wait for the magistrates to shed light on what happened, and I believe this is the best demonstration that the goal was one and one only, well before this legal case: to shut down Report." Ranucci, who is not accused of any crime, said he learned of his dismissal as Report host on Friday from news agency ANSA. Speaking in recent days during a book tour - which has continued to draw large, supportive crowds - Ranucci described the coverage of the past two months as amounting to a campaign of "character assassination... perhaps unprecedented in the history of our country, and perhaps even globally" and "a sort of political pillorying by party newspapers." He said that much of the coverage - comprising "2,800 articles" - had been printed in newspapers owned by the Angelucci group, headed by Lega politician Antonio Angelucci. He claimed that this coverage "served to cast a shadow over my actions with false articles that were preparatory to the decision to replace me." Following RAI's announcement, Ranucci said the choice of Presutti and Piervincenzi as his replacements "mortifies" the programme's history, and signalled he would pursue legal action over the move. His predecessor as Report host, Milena Gabanelli - who like several other former RAI journalists now works for rival broadcaster La7 - has said she had no interest in returning to the role. Asked by reporters on Friday about Ranucci being axed as host, she declined to comment. Ranucci told crowds in Favignana on Friday night that the foreign correspondent role he was offered by RAI was in Cairo. "Perhaps they hope I might end up like Regeni," he said, in reference to the  who was abducted, tortured and murdered in the Egyptian capital in 2016. Referring to the appointment of the programme's new hosts, he said: "Those names are good for other things, but not for Report. It's a slap in the face to meritocracy, to the Report team, and to what it has demonstrated over the years, to its history, to its independence." The decision has provoked fierce internal resistance. Report's editorial committee said in , issued shortly before RAI's announcement was confirmed, that "politics is taking advantage of a regulatory vacuum," noting that the programme has no formal editorial director, no dedicated masthead and only limited union representation, leaving it exposed to being "overridden." The committee said the alleged justifications for removing Ranucci were nothing new, having already been examined and dismissed in internal audits and hearings before parliament's RAI oversight committee without any sanctions being imposed. It voiced alarm at reports of "opaque negotiations" conducted outside ordinary union channels, warning that the affair risked "a form of censorship." According to Italian media, Report journalists have threatened to resign en masse in protest, while the choice of Presutti and Piervincenzi was reportedly not shared by the wider newsroom. Right-wing politicians have separately criticised Ranucci for comparing himself, in a social media post, to Italian anti-mafia and anti-terrorism figures such as Aldo Moro, Piersanti Mattarella, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, after writing that Italy had killed "all its best men" to silence them. Ranucci had a two-person police escort before the bombing; it was increased to six afterwards. He has lived under protection since 2021 owing to threats connected to his investigations into organised crime and political and business corruption. "This is not a farewell" - Ranucci wrote in a social media post on Friday - "I will no longer host Report, but I will lead the most important battle of my life for press freedom, I will do it for my children and for yours, I refuse to leave future generations this monstrous world, governed by monstrous and cowardly people who cannot tolerate free journalism and independent judges." Photo credit: Andrea Raffin / Shutterstock.com