THEself-restraint is the choice made by Milena Gabanelli, to whom the Rai Summit proposed the condemnation of Rainews. In the face of various considerations, and in particular, he explains, "the fact that I don't feel like putting my face on a product that I don't sign (not being the director in charge), I asked the CEO today to grant me unpaid leave , until the board of directors has launched the new news plan and decided on those mergers that would be the prelude to the launch of a new newspaper. If at that point he intends to entrust the management to me, he will find my availability ”. “It may seem strange - argues Gabanelli - but Rai, unlike all the TV channels in the world, has many news programs, but does not have an online news portal organized in order to enhance the work of its 1600 journalists on the web. The concession says that it must bridge the digital gap, as a large portion of the population no longer obtains information through traditional channels, and is now completely excluded from public service despite paying the fee. A very serious fact of which both the company and the Supervisory Board are aware. My task was to prepare the conditions to be able to put all 1600 Rai journalists (starting from foreign and regional correspondents) in a position to anticipate news on the online and provide content and information of which they are custodians, and which, for reasons of space, cannot be condensed in the news ”. “My work - explains the former curator of Report - has been completed for some time, and the plan almost exclusively involves the use of internal resources. The obstacle is this: there are too many publications (Tg1, Tg2, Tg3, Tgr, Tg Parlamento, Rainews 24, Gr, Rai sport) and until a few are caught, a new publication cannot be launched. The concession, and rightly so, always says that the information offer must be reorganized, and the Board's interpretation has been: it is not possible to approve a new publication (even if urgent, since Rai is guilty of late , and on which investments have been made), because first there are too many publications to merge, and it is difficult to do so ". "The solution identified by the Board - he continues - is to move, waiting for better times, to the site of Rainews (whose director is the same as Rainews 24, Antonio Di Bella), which today makes just over 100.000 unique users and ranks 35 in all online publications. Without a definition of the times, with inadequate resources to cover the 24 hours, and without any possibility of taking off precisely because the assumption is wrong: colleagues do not anticipate their news on the site of a newspaper experienced as a competitor. A vision in my opinion not up to the task that the public service must perform, and economically wrong as it renounces potential advertising investments. To give an idea: Repubblica collects about 27 million euros a year from the combination of website and social media, and just less Corriere della Sera. What numbers could a company like Rai reach which, in addition to firepower, has an immense archive of images that no one else has in Italy? ". “Unfortunately - continues Gabanelli - I am not aware that the directors have ever entered into the merits of the project, organization and potential. In the face of these considerations, or the certainty of not producing results proportional to the work done, the expectations of the public, the role of public service television, and the fact that I don't feel like putting my face on a product that I don't sign ( not being the director in charge), I asked the General Manager today to grant me unpaid leave, until the Board of Directors has launched the new news plan and decided on those mergers that would be the prelude to the launch of a new publication.
The reaction of the Board
Rai Board of Directors: "Surprising and incomprehensible refusal" - The Board of Rai "finds the refusal - communicated by Milena Gabanelli who has held the role of Deputy Director within Rai since January - of the offer to co-manage one of the most surprising and incomprehensible important publications of the public service with responsibility for the website and data journalism ". This is what we read in a note from the Rai Board of Directors regarding Milena Gabanelli's refusal to co-manage RaiNews24. "As certainly also Gabanelli knows - continues the note - a new Public Service Head Office cannot be launched except in the context of the new information plan that must be prepared according to the stages and criteria imposed by the agreement between the State and Rai" .