the dispute with Paola Ferrari and the lawsuit with Enrico Varriale-Corriere.it

In Rai, the resignation of a program director is very rare. For this reason yesterday the sudden farewell of Alessandra De Stefano, appointed 18 months ago at the helm of the sports journal, aroused great surprise. A note from the company speaks of personal reasons, the CEO Carlo Fuortes in a note thanked the journalist for the assiduous work carried out with great professionalism, the significant results achieved and the innovative contribution on the occasion of major events such as the World Cup . L’
the interim position was entrusted to Marco Franzellithe eldest of the three deputies, while in the front line for replacement there would be Paul Petrecca, current director of Rai News. For De Stefano (in the company since 1992 in the roles of editor, correspondent, author, deputy director) the role of correspondent from Paris, the city where she has lived for years, could be envisaged.

Behind the farewell of the journalist (the first woman in the role after the 13 men who took turns in the 30-year history of the Tgs) there would be the inability to hold the tension caused by internal clashes on at least three fronts: the attacks suffered by some well-known faces in sport who have been excluded or downsized, the hostility of the Milan editorial staff who feel neglected compared to Rome and that of the non-journalism trade unions, who accuse them of have reduced the contribution of staff to cut costs.

Very hard clashes with Paola Ferrariexcluded from the role of commentator at the Qatar World Cup and diverted to Domenica Dribbling, and above all with the former deputy director Enrico Varriale. Ten days ago the Neapolitan journalist, suspended as a precautionary measure from conducting video because he was involved in a criminal investigation for stalking still ongoing, sued Rai and De Stefano herself before the Rome labor court, asking for reinstatement and compensation of the damages. Varriale, 63, is expected to retire in the autumn anyway. Among the internal enemies of the former director there are many first generation reporters, removed from a management they considered hereditary or joined by younger colleagues. Bad moods also to the Milan editorial team, which considers itself not involved in the editorial choices of Saxa Rubra and which has never been assigned a deputy director. The technicians are unhappy because the director has cut costs and personnel for the preparation of television news and studios, on the recommendation of CEO Fuortes, often resorting to digital scenarios.

On the audience front, the lackluster and continuously declining numbers of weeklies certainly contributed. Sports Sundaywhich has been redesigned giving more space to non-football sports and reporting and including as a columnist Lia Capizzi (hardly contested by the editorial staff as the first external journalist in the role), remains glued to around 5% share and 500,000 media viewers while Sunday Dribbling it is difficult to break away from a modest 2%.