After an extension of almost a year of the previous agreement, the Council of Ministers approves - on the proposal of the Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda - the outline of the provision which entrusts the public service to Rai. With the text, which has become ten-year, and the subsequent service contract, which will be five-year, the government aims to accelerate towards that revolution requested on several occasions from the general director Antonio Campo Dall'Orto.
"I really hope that now there is the decisive push for the change in Rai that everyone is waiting for, but which is struggling to take shape", he commented the Undersecretary for Communications Antonello Giacomelli. The message to the top management of Viale Mazzini is clear: time has run out, now the reforms, already envisaged in the guidelines approved in 2015 by the government, become mandatory and can no longer be postponed or circumvented.
The concession therefore includes the broadcasting of programs via digital terrestrial and all other distribution platforms. "Rai's action - reads the Mise statement - must strictly respect the principles of completeness, objectivity, independence, impartiality and pluralism, promoting equal opportunities between men and women and ensuring strict respect for the dignity of the person, as well as professional ethics of journalists".
In the new text, in which reference is made for the first time, in addition to radio and television programs also to the CD. multimedia public service, some important principles are established, such as:
a) the request to the concessionaire company to create an editorial plan consistent with the mission and obligations of the public radio and television service which may include the remodulation of the number of non-generalist channels with the aim of pursuing efficiency, cost reduction, valorisation of internal resources ;
b) the forecast of the need to guarantee a more efficient use of resources, through an information reorganization plan which may also include the redefinition of the number of newspapers and the observance of the absolute ban on using methodologies and techniques capable of manipulating the information content is not recognizable to the viewer.
"For the purpose of determining the costs on the basis of which the subscription fee is parameterized annually - the note continues -, it is envisaged that AGCOM and the MISE, each for their respective responsibilities, annually verify the achievement of the efficiency and rationalization objectives indicated in the national service contract, the implementation of the editorial plan, compliance with the rules on advertising crowding, as well as the distribution of advertising messages between the broadcasting channels and the correct allocation of costs by the concessionaire company”.
Furthermore, according to the new Agreement, the Concessionaire's budget must include a separate accounting for the revenues deriving from the rental fee and the charges incurred in the previous calendar year for the provision of the radio, television and multimedia public service compared to the revenues from the activities carried out under competitive conditions. This separate accounting is subject to control by an auditing firm.
Finally, the licensee company is prohibited from using, directly or indirectly, the revenues deriving from the license fee to finance activities not related to the general public radio and television service
