Feb 7 • 12:06 UTC 🇮🇹 Italy La Repubblica

The letter: "Now enough, Telemeloni humiliates public service"

An opinion piece critiques the appointment of comedian Andrea Pucci for the Sanremo Festival, citing issues in public broadcasting in Italy.

The article expresses strong concerns about the direction of Italy's public broadcasting and the recent appointment of comedian Andrea Pucci as a co-host for the prestigious Sanremo Festival. The writer highlights Pucci's controversial past, particularly regarding his offensive jokes about the LGBTQ+ community, and suggests that his hiring marks one of the darkest moments in the history of public television in Italy. The piece argues that the decision to bring Pucci on board is not only tasteless but also detrimental to the public service ethos that public broadcasting is supposed to uphold.

Additionally, the author points out a significant decline in viewership for RAI's news programs, indicating a loss of nearly 400,000 viewers since the beginning of the television season. This drop is attributed to audiences favoring news programs from the competing Mediaset channels, suggesting a shift in public trust and satisfaction with state-funded media. The article implies that these trends could reflect broader dissatisfaction with how public service broadcasting is being managed in Italy.

Finally, the piece concludes with a critique of the coverage of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Milan-Cortina, noting it as another example of embarrassing mismanagement by the public service broadcaster. The overall message is a call for accountability and improvement in the quality and integrity of public broadcasting in Italy, as the author believes that the current trajectory is damaging to the institution's credibility and mission.

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