The CEO of Rai Carlo Fuortes has communicated his resignation to the Minister of Economy and Finance. On the decision, Fuortes said, among other things: "I have been working in public administration for decades and I have always acted in the interest of the institutions I have led, privileging the general benefit of the community over partisan convenience. In the first year of work of the new Board of Directors with the Draghi government, the Board of Directors has achieved great results for the Company". But, he explains, "Since the beginning of 2023, a political clash has opened on the position I hold and on my person, which contributes to weakening Rai and the Public Service.
At the same time I recorded within the Board of Directors of Rai the loss of the constructive attitude that had characterized it, indispensable to the management of the first Italian cultural company. This threatens to paralyze it, not enabling it to respond to the obligations and deadlines of business planning with the risk of making it impossible to face the great challenges of Rai's future. The Board of Directors must deliberate, in the coming weeks, the programs of the new schedules and it is a fact that there are no longer the conditions to continue the editorial project of renewal that we had undertaken in 2021. I cannot, in order to get the approval of the new production plans in the Board of Directors, accept the compromise of sharing changes - although obviously legitimate - of editorial line and programming that I do not consider in the interest of Rai. I have always considered the freedom of choice and work of a director an essential element of the ethics of a public company. My professional future - which has been much discussed in the newspapers these days, not always on the occasion - is of no importance in the face of these reasons and cannot be the subject of negotiation. I therefore acknowledge that there are no longer the conditions to continue my work as CEO".
Reactions
"His free choice": this is how the Minister of Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini, commented on the resignation. "The public service - added the minister - has ample room for improvement and has many professionals not always used to the best that can guarantee this improvement". "As the League, on the model of what happens in other European countries, we have already filed a legislative initiative that provides, by the end of this legislature, for the fact that public television is no longer borne by citizens, because in other European countries public channels are supported without burdening bills," Salvini said.
"We also need stability in Rai," said the president of Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Conference of Regions, Massimiliano Fedriga.
"We take note of the resignation of the CEO of Rai Carlo Fuortes, whose management of the public service has been deficient in many respects. It is clear that at this point a revival of the public service is even more urgent, in light of the paralysis denounced by Fuortes himself. At the same time, however, some questions arise as dutiful, to which the resigning CEO himself would have the duty to answer. What exactly are you referring to when you talk about editorial changes and programming that you do not consider in the interest of the company? We ask Fuortes to explain everything in detail before the Supervisory Committee before which he has been summoned to a hearing for next week". So the exponents of the 5 Star Movement in the Rai Supervisory Commission.
"With the resignation of Fuortes the majority is preparing, with a real coup, to occupy the largest cultural company in the country", say the parliamentarians of the Green and Left Alliance Angelo Bonelli and Peppe De Cristofaro, members of the Rai Vigilance. "The Supervisory Committee must meet as soon as possible," the parliamentarians add.
The profile for Carlo Fuortes
Carlo Fuortes had been CEO of Rai since July 2021. The first gesture to Rai was a letter to employees, together with the president Marinella Soldi: "Dear colleagues, it is an honor for us that, in this particular historical moment, we are entrusted, for our mandate, with the largest cultural company in the country", they wrote. Previously, since December 2013 he had held the position of superintendent of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, and had also been managing director of the Fondazione Musica per Roma (a position that expired in 2015), which has managed the Auditorium Parco della Musica since 2003.
Born on September 5, 1959, he was extraordinary commissioner of the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, he was also a member of the board of directors of the Teatro di Roma from 1998 to 2001 and general manager of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and the Scuderie del Quirinale from 2002 to 2003. President of Izi, a company of analysis and economic studies, he was also a member of the Board of Directors of Cinema for Rome. He teaches Organizational Systems of Live Entertainment at Dams at the University of Roma 3, member of the executive committee of Federculture and, since 2011, secretary general of the Associazione Economia della Cultura.
