Rome, 3 August 2022 – Elections 25 September, Giorgia Meloni back in the spotlight for a new controversy. A joke by Elisa Anzaldo, journalist of Tg1 about the leader of F’dI provoked the ire of the Brothers of Italy and the Lega and the recall of the director Monica Maggioni to her editorial office. Climate already tense a few days after the entry into force of the level playing field regulations just launched by Agcom and the Supervisory Commission.
The sentence on Giorgia’s sins
To unleash the first August television controversy the morning press review of Tg1, which it had already caused an uproar the drafting due to the rejection of some journalists to lead it. In the studio there was the co-director of Corriere dello Sport, Alessandro Barbano, who commented on the news, reported by the newspapers, concerning the fact that Giorgia Meloni would have gone from being a Lazio fan to a Roma fan. “If it is a pity – said the journalist -, in this case it is not the worst of Giorgia Meloni”. He sentence that the presenter, Elisa Anzaldo, he commented, smiling: “There are many others”.
“Suspend the reporter”
The reaction of the League is ready, asking Rai to immediately suspend Anzaldo from participating in the programs “after the indecent spectacle seen this morning”. “The story of Anzaldo is the first symbol of the shift to the left of the information contents of Rai which will foresee a massacre of pair condition and pluralism “, affirms Federico Mollicone of Fdi, who asks for the advance of the entry into force of the level playing field regulations which will be operational from August 10. Even Forza Italia speaks of” a decidedly unbalanced start of the electoral campaign “. The center-right also focuses on the possible appointments of the deputy directors of the news programs, including of Tg1, after the company job postings, which, according to him, would be too left-oriented.
The reaction on the left
“The right wing of Salvini-Meloni-Berlusconi returns to wave the truncheon against public service and its autonomy”, he replies Andrea Romano of the Pd.
The call of the director
In the afternoon the recall of Maggioni in a letter to the editor. “We are in the midst of an extremely complex electoral campaign that requires the utmost of our concentration and professionalism – he writes -. Our duty is to go on air giving our viewers the sense of sobriety and total balance of public service”.
Apologies from the journalist
Then they arrived excuses of Anzaldo. “In my intentions I was still talking about football – he explains -. Since the tone was perceived as improper, I apologize.” Just today Agcom approved the level playing field regulation, after the approval of the Supervisory Commission arrived yesterday. The regulation provides, for the first time for the general elections, after the debut in the campaign for the 2019 European elections, that the platforms for sharing videos are required to take every useful initiative aimed at ensuring compliance with the principles of protection of the pluralism, freedom of expression, impartiality, independence and objectivity of information as well as adopting measures to combat disinformation phenomena.