He has returned to his old love, Giovanni Toti, the outgoing president of the Liguria Region. With an editorial published on September 4 on the front page of “Il Giornale”, directed by Alessandro Sallusti, Toti began a collaboration with the newspaper founded fifty years ago by Indro Montanelli. Before dedicating himself to national politics and then to administrative activity in Liguria, he had been the director of two news programs for the Mediaset group: Tg4 and Studio Aperto.

Toti who takes it out on the left

In his first editorial, who does former governor Toti, who has returned to being a journalist, blame? With the “political schizophrenia” of the left that supports the policy of austerity in Europe and complains about the lack of government funding in Italy. After all, they are the ones who immediately took to the streets to ask that he be removed from the leadership of the Region. But he also indulges in needling the center-right that, apart from Matteo Salvini, has shown little closeness to the former governor. “It would be appropriate to start a phase of reforms,” ​​writes Toti, after two years spent “plugging holes,” namely wars and the energy crisis. And then he points to the last Italian government that would have presented a reform plan “pro-market, economic freedom, growth.” This would be the Berlusconi executive of 2001.

Without going into the merits of the “Totian” affair which touches on several delicate issues – the closeness between politics and business, the lack of public funding for politics replaced by other things, the relationships with the judiciary and the freedom granted in exchange for resignation – the former Ligurian president is yet another (former) politician who returns to journalism (and vice versa).

A revolving door: Capezzone, Tarquinio, Santoro

A door that is a bit too revolving, that between the two worlds. Giovanni Toti is just one of many in a rich list of figures who get on and off the political bus. From Lucia Annunziata, Sandro Ruotolo, Marco Tarquinio, Michele Santoro, Lilli Gruber and Tommaso Cerno in the center-left to Augusto Minzolini, Vittorio Feltri, Daniele Capezzone, Giorgio Mulè, Andrea Cangini, Andrea Ruggeri in the opposing camp, passing through Gian Luigi Paragone and Emilio Carelli (formerly of the 5 Star Movement, a force that, in its early days, hated journalists). And as possible replacements for Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano (also a journalist), the names of Alessandro Giuli and Pietrangelo Buttafuoco are being mentioned, two other professionals attributable to the right-wing camp. A special case is Walter Veltroni, now very far from everyday politics. The former Democratic Party secretary, former director of “L’Unità”, is now capable of jumping from an interview with a football champion of yesterday to a historical analysis of the PCI of his youth.

Journalism and Politics: A Sick Relationship

A sick relationship, however, that between the two worlds. As soon as a journalist/opinionist acquires a bit of notoriety on video, participating in the talk shows of reference, he is considered “ready” to jump into politics, increasingly in search of “stickers”. The last European Elections were a competition between generals, journalists and squatters. Instead of building local administrators in one’s own home who can become the parliamentarians and ministers of tomorrow, it is better to spend money in the world of communication: the “theatre” is now made up of more flash jokes, tweets and thrusts lasting a maximum of thirty seconds.

Is there a law that forbids it? No, but this mix of the two professions pollutes public debate, fuels conflicts of interest and contributes to the disaffection of voters-readers towards politics and the media. If a journalist puts down his pen to carry out political activity, at least – as a matter of style – he should not return to commenting on friends, colleagues and adversaries. One might say: to each his own job.