The managing director of flak-hit state broadcaster Rai on Friday rejected the ‘TeleMeloni’ tag stuck on its by opposition politicians who claim it is subservient to the government and Premier Giorgia Meloni.

On Thursday the chair and the opposition members of Rai’s parliamentary watchdog panel quit citing allegedly endemic government interference and ousting of critical journalists, as well as a sweeping decline in standards.

“Talking about a decline in programming is a statement I don’t agree with, and looking at the presentation of the programming, it seems risky,” said Giampaolo Rossi, responding to a question about the opposition’s accusation of a decline in Rai’s programming.

“The definition of Telemeloni is a brand we carry with us, and I continue to find it an extraordinary marketing operation that is endlessly reproduced.

“Rai’s effort is to create a plural offering capable of telling a multiplicity of narratives, which were not present in the past.” Meloni has said that she is merely correcting a past anti-Right bias as part of her bid to combat the alleged cultural hegemony of the Left.