Milo Infante starts again from three. Less than nine days after Ferragosto, the new co-director of Videonews will start with his first two shows on the Mediaset networks. It begins next Monday, August 24, with Ore 11, the daily strip airing on Rete4 from 10:50 AM to 1:00 PM from Monday to Friday. Also starting from August 24, the host will be featured for two weeks in the afternoon on Canale 5 with Verità Nascoste – Il Diario, airing at 4:45 PM in the slot usually occupied by Gianluigi Nuzzi with Dentro la Notizia, which will return on September 7. Milo will thus also get to know the large afternoon audience of the flagship network thanks to a daily spin-off of the program destined from September 1 for prime time on Rete4. An “experimental” domino effect that led to the move of Bianca Berlinguer and her E’ sempre Cartabianca to Wednesday evenings (from September 2). “The most beautiful thing about all this,” Infante told us, “is to notice how in the Mediaset networks in-depth coverage never takes a vacation. On Rai, too many times I was told no just because it couldn’t be done in the summer.”
Milo, what should we expect from this trio of new programs practically already starting?
“We will always be focused on very close news coverage. With a bit more space for in-depth analysis and current news which, for Ore 11, will come directly from the major Mediaset news, with Tg4 acting as a dividing line within our own morning show. It’s an experiment we care about very much.”
And what should we expect from the afternoon start on Canale 5 of Verità Nascoste – Il Diario?
“First of all, I really appreciate the great willingness to experiment shown by the company, giving trust to a face little known to the Mediaset audience. I cannot but thank publisher Berlusconi and General Director Mauro Crippa for this important placement on the flagship network. An extraordinary opportunity in a slot that is prestigious but also very difficult because it has been continuously held for many years by Rai1’s La vita in diretta and where Gianluigi Nuzzi had an excellent performance last season. Certainly, behind the gratitude for the great opportunity, I do not deny there is also a big nervousness…”
What are the “hidden truths” that certainly cannot be missing at the start?
“Without wanting to spoil too much, I would first clarify that there will not only be the big mysteries like the Garlasco, Denise Pipitone or Angela Celentano cases which obviously remain great hidden truths. But they are not the only ones. A truth to discover is also the one about the society we live in today, where a boy makes a generous gesture and is hit and killed by the ex of the girl he was helping because he was mistaken for the new boyfriend. The hidden truth to investigate is: what have we become if stories like these happen?”
Will the great summer tragedies, from children sucked into pools to people drowned in lakes, find space?
“Italy is a country that needs to invest more in tourism. Regarding facilities, certain rules, staff, investments that all hotel owners must make, and proper controls must be in place. The same goes for natural spaces like lakes with bathing bans to be enforced or mountain trails where, among others, the FAI volunteers work commendably but it is not enough. We must make our country increasingly welcoming for tourists and increasingly safe, and certainly information can and must play a role.”
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Your move to Mediaset was one of the turning points of the TV market. But besides Monica Leofreddi, did you bring others with you?
“Opinionists and authors chose to follow me, except for my former project manager Claudia Manari who legitimately chose to stay in Rome for personal reasons.
My work group will from today integrate with some extraordinary professionals from the Videonews news editorial staff.”
Rai, as an anti-Infante move, brought Mi manda Rai3 back to prime time for two weeks. What do you think?
“I believe Rai has more important things to think about and it was not counterprogramming… Also because in the following weeks we will face Filorosso, then there will be flagship programs also on Mediaset channels like Le Iene on Italia 1, Floris on La7 and also us on Rete4. It is clear that plurality of information remains an important value.”
Speaking of information, pluralism, professional ethics. What is your opinion on the Ranucci case?
“I know Sigfrido to be a very good colleague, an upright person, a victim of this affair until proven otherwise. While maintaining the presumption of innocence, it is clear that you must know who you sit down to dinner with, especially if it is a character with a certain pedigree like Lavitola. However, honestly, it must be recognized that Lavitola is the same person who, besides Ranucci, also fooled top editorialists, directors, and men of culture… So even on this, information must be complete.”
Would you have gone to lunch with Lavitola?
“Today I say no. But talking afterwards is easy… However, a distinction must be made. Apart from the fact that I generally go to dinner with very few friends and if I talk I tend to talk with institutional sources… Even on those occasions when, inevitably, I happened to meet and perhaps also have lunch with criminals I met as sources… Let’s say if I had been offered any other kind of deal I would definitely have said: no, thank you… That said, however, I really want to believe and want to fully believe in Sigfrido Ranucci’s good faith. I, by nature, am always a guarantor.”
But you made Salvo Sottile angry who thought you were a friend and instead…
“But look, believe me if I tell you that I didn’t even think for a second about that message he talks about. I instinctively replied: “Good luck” with a Lombard-Venetian pragmatism rather than coldness. Certainly, I inherit a program called Ore 14, which reached even 10% after starting from 1.9%. Let’s say I would also like to inherit easier situations sometimes. But, I repeat, here at Mediaset I have the greatest fortune: to have a lot of space and to be able to experiment. With the publisher, we have an appointment at Christmas to take stock.”
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