Lucarelli analyzes Ranucci's autobiography, questioning its honesty and content

Journalist Selvaggia Lucarelli has again turned her critical eye to Sigfrido Ranucci, the host of the Italian investigative journalism program "Report." In her newsletter, "Vale Tutto," Lucarelli dissects Ranucci's 2024 autobiography, titled "La scelta" (The Choice), suggesting it offers insight into how Ranucci "ended up believing" those who saw him as exceptional, citing "reckless liaisons, comparisons with Superman, and imprudent confessions."

Lucarelli questions Ranucci's intellectual honesty, noting that he presented the book as an autobiography written with the "same rigor as an investigative journalist." However, she argues it transformed into a self-portrait containing "fictionalized parts" following critical articles that detailed "various controversial episodes," including alleged sexual relationships with an intern and with sources for his investigations.

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At this point - writes Lucarelli - the question is: La scelta is really a memoir with some fictionalized parts or is it a true, unashamed and at times very embarrassing autobiography from which its author today takes distance?

"At this point," Lucarelli writes, "the question is: Is 'La scelta' truly a memoir with some fictionalized parts, or is it a genuine, unashamed, and at times very embarrassing autobiography from which its author now distances himself?" She satirizes Ranucci's "mythomania," recounting his childhood fascination with Superman and his continued self-perception as a superhero. The article also touches on anecdotes from the book, such as a homeless man in Torvaianica who allegedly gave him crucial advice in 2004, and his son's early exposure to his father's work.

Lucarelli further scrutinizes the romantic relationships detailed by Ranucci in the book. These include an alleged affair with an intern at "Report," a teacher who became a source for the program, and a press officer. Lucarelli deems these accounts "the most disconcerting part of the book." She suggests that while self-aggrandizement might be a sin of vanity, Ranucci's narration of his relationships with women is "highly questionable" and deserved scrutiny long before the Lavitola case, especially in light of an anonymous letter sent to Rai in 2021 accusing him of sexual advances toward colleagues.

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Why if what I have told so far (self-exaltation) can be a sin of vanity, what Ranucci narrates about his relationships with women is very questionable. And undoubtedly deserved some in-depth analysis much earlier, especially in light of that famous anonymous letter that arrived at Rai in 2021 in which he was accused of sexual advances towards some colleagues.