Former Rai president Lucia Annunziata
quit the State broadcaster on Thursday, complaining about
government meddling.
Earlier on Thursday Rai's board approved new CEO Roberto
Sergio's appointments for the network's top news posts.
The departure of veteran journalist Annunziata, who had a show
in which she grilled politicians, comes soon after that of
another prominent left-leaning presenter, Fabio Fazio.
"I have come to make this decision because I do not agree with
anything about the actions of the current government, not the
content, nor the method," Annunziata said in a letter to the Rai
management.
"In particular, I don't agree with the way of intervening in
Rai.
"It is an act of seriousness on my part to acknowledge this
distance...
"The necessary conditions to collaborate do not exist".
Sergio's appointments included making Gian Marco Chiocci the
head of Tg1 news on the flagship Rai1 channel and Antonio
Preziosi the head of Tg2 on Rai2.
This month Sergio replaced Carlo Fuortes, who last week citing
pressure from the government.
Fazio said the failure of Rai to renew the contract for his
historic chat show was a sign of the "boundless greed" of
Italy's rightwing government in an alleged purge, a claim the
right indignantly denies.
In his weekly column for Oggi, Fazio said the right felt
"legitimised" by its thumping September general election win "to
behave like the owner of the public sphere with little regard
for the public weal and with a boundless greed".
Fazio has now signed a four-year deal with the Discovery
Channel.
Appointments to the State broadcaster have always been heavily
influenced with the line of the government of the day.
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