On Our Radar

RAI

6 February 2026

On Our Radar this week, we’re concerned about attacks on RAI journalists during protests.

On Our Radar this week…

Journalists have been attacked while reporting on unrest in Italy. On 31 January in Turin, media workers representing the public broadcaster RAI were attacked by masked assailants while covering clashes between protestors and police. Reporter Bianca Leonardi and a camera operator were punched and kicked, threatened, and had their equipment damaged as stones were thrown. Leonardi – who is reported to be an external journalist hired by RAI and who works as a correspondent on their programme “FarWest” – was eventually forced to retreat, alongside her camera operator. The Public Media Alliance condemns the assault, and we call on Italian authorities to investigate and hold the attackers to account. Moreover, while we recognise RAI’s public condemnation of the attack, we echo the concerns raised by the Italian Journalists’ Union, FNSI, and others about the public broadcaster’s use of an external journalist without offering them adequate protections. Media organisations, especially public service media, must ensure robust risk assessment, clear field protocols, and real duty-of-care for all staff and contributors as they execute their role in providing public-interest reporting. We urge RAI to ensure Leonardi and the camera operator are given access to resources and support following the attack. This attack comes only a few months after the November 2025 assault on the La Stampa newsroom in Turin. Meanwhile, another journalist has become the target of an online hate campaign for her reporting on the Turin clashes, signalling a worrying local pattern of intimidation against those documenting events.

Read more from FNSI. 

This is not an exhaustive list of our concerns. If you would like to raise other concerns, please reach out and let us know. 

PMA Advocacy Team