On Friday 12 April (8.00 pm – free admission subject to availability), the Sala Cavallerizza at the Castello Volante in Corigliano d’Otranto will host journalist Sigfrido Ranucci for a stop on his extensive tour to promote his book *La scelta* (Bompiani).
Following a welcome address by Mayor Dina Manti, the author and presenter of *Report* will be in conversation with journalist and linguist Annibale Gagliani. The event, promoted by Diffondiamo idee di valore, Conversazioni sul futuro and Libreria Idrusa, is organised in collaboration with the Municipality of Corigliano d’Otranto, MultiserviceEco, BigSur, Coolclub, Magma Aps and the “Trame libere” Municipal Library.
THE BOOK
Sigfrido Ranucci is one of those men who are completely at one with the work they have chosen. Together with his team at *Report* – a television programme both deeply loved and deeply hated, and one of the bastions of investigative journalism in Italy – he devotes himself every day to sifting through information, connecting events and listening to voices in order to decide how to report the news that some would prefer to remain hushed up. The strength of *Report* lies in the simplicity of its approach: to offer the public the unvarnished truth of the facts through rigorous research, even when the path is fraught with dangers that affect the journalists’ personal lives. For the first time, Ranucci recounts the journey that has brought him this far; he does so by selecting a number of key investigations, revealing the behind-the-scenes stories, but also by evoking figures – such as his father, a highly charismatic athlete and financier, and his mentor Roberto Morrione, founder of Rai News 24 – who instilled in him the ability to see every choice through to the end: because practising journalism on the ground means making decisions that forever alter the course of events, both on a personal and collective level. From these pages emerges the courageous self-portrait of a man who, despite the constant pressure of reality in its harshest forms, does not succumb to cynicism, and never ceases to ask himself – and us –: ‘What is the right choice?’. And to find the answer each time, in order to honour the promise that binds him to an audience that still holds the rule of law and social justice close to its heart.
THE AUTHOR
Sigfrido Ranucci (Rome, 24 August 1961) is a journalist, author and television presenter. With Rai since 1990, he was first a correspondent for Tg3’s news programmes, then for Rai News 24, where he produced numerous investigations into illegal waste trafficking and the Mafia. He conducted the final interview with Judge Paolo Borsellino; in September 2001, he was sent to New York to cover the attack on the Twin Towers, and then to Sumatra in 2004 to report on the tsunami. He has been a correspondent in war zones across the Balkans and the Middle East, where he has carried out investigations into human rights abuses, and since March 2017 has been presenting the television programme *Report* (Rai3), which he took over from its creator, Milena Gabanelli. He has received numerous awards for investigative journalism and is the co-author, with Nicola Biondo, of the book *Il patto* (Chiarelettere, 2010).
THE PUGLIA TOUR
The presentation in Corigliano d’Otranto is part of a mini-tour that Ranucci will be undertaking in Salento from 12 to 14 April: on Friday morning, he will meet pupils at the Liceo Statale Girolamo Comi in Tricase, and at 8 pm he will be at the Castello Volante; on Saturday morning, he will meet pupils at the “Leonardo da Vinci” Scientific High School in Maglie; at 5.00 pm at the “Aldo Tundo” Municipal Auditorium in Taviano; and at 8.00 pm at the Officine Cantelmo in Lecce. Finally, on Sunday at 11.00 am at the Church of Santa Chiara (former Convent of the Poor Clares) in Copertino; at 5.00 pm at the Spongano Youth Centre; and at 7.30 pm at Palazzo Ramirez in Salve, for the preview of the “Armonia. Narrazioni in Terra d’Otranto’.
