Lorenzo Mammone, what were the main steps in your education that led you to pursue a career in journalism?
Journalists aren't born, or maybe they are. What's certain is that after middle school I began to dream of becoming a journalist, enchanted by the reports of the famous signatures of the time: Indro Montanelli, Enzo Biagi, Tiziano Terzani, Oriana Fallaci. I read their articles in the newspapers my dad brought home, and I dreamed. I wanted to tell the world, leave a mark, experience adventures. It all started like this and was a consequence of this dream. High school, a degree in literature from the University of Milan, but above all many attempts to collaborate with newspapers, magazines, and radio. I started with sports, writing game reports for the basketball team I played for, I moved on to occasional collaborations with local newspapers, then a stint on radio at Radio 3i, until I was hired at People's Journal. A true school of life and professionalism, before attempting a competition at the then TSI».
How did your experience at Swiss Radio and Television begin and what were the initial challenges you faced?
I was hired in 1989 by the then TSI following a competitive exam. Unlike many young journalists joining the company, I wasn't directed toward television news or local reporting, but into a department with a name that filled me with pride: the Investigations and Journalistic Columns Department. It was headed by a highly experienced and competent journalist, Willy Baggi, and its flagship programs included the magazine Thesis Topics Testimonials, directed by another leading figure in Ticino journalism: Aldo Sofia. It was a dream come true. It was an all-encompassing, immersive experience: learning the language of television, the communication techniques of a new medium, tackling local and international issues, producing documentaries and investigations, and traveling the world. Being a news magazine, we ranged from social, political, and economic topics to current affairs—a change of pace and subject matter that required rigor, study, preparation, and the ability to adapt. Those were the years that shaped me and shaped my understanding of journalism that has shaped my entire professional life.
As a programmer and host, which programmes do you remember most fondly and which marked an important milestone in your journalistic career?
«Besides TTT, another important moment was the experience in the program Bonfire, born in 2000, of which I was also deputy producer and host. An investigative program that is still among the most popular with RSI audiences. It was particularly with Bonfire that I developed the skills of hosting, in a format that involved face to face with the guests, a role that conferred a certain responsibility on the host who was called upon to support and defend the contents of the investigations carried out by the editorial staff in front of whoever was called into question".
What is, in your opinion, the value of investigative journalism in today's society?
We live in a paradox: perhaps never before have we been so inundated with information, in all its forms, especially those derived from the internet: web platforms and social media. However, this way of circulating information often escapes the verification and contextualization mechanisms that are typical of journalism, especially investigative journalism. Today, in the age of fake news and the challenges posed by disinformation, investigative journalism would be a bulwark we can rely on to navigate an increasingly complex and pitfall-filled society. Yet, never before have financial difficulties, editorial cuts, and reduced advertising have put journalism in such a difficult position. Conducting an investigation costs time and money, it means dedicating weeks to searching for evidence, verifying sources, it means having the means to counter complaints and requests for compensation, and fewer and fewer media outlets can afford what is now considered a privilege. Yet investigative journalism is one of the pillars on which democracy is based. It should not be forgotten. Never!
In this context, the public service, in which I have had the privilege of working for 35 years, offers its journalists and its audience all these guarantees, even if attempting to weaken it by reducing its revenue would have precisely the harmful consequences just described."
How does the transmission ““Clear agreements” influenced your professional approach and what topics do you think were fundamental to address?
«Clear agreements It is a program that defends citizens' rightsAnd it is precisely the citizens themselves, with their problems, who are at the heart of the issues we address. I want to emphasize the concept of "citizens," a role we all play at times, whether as consumers, retirees, patients, entrepreneurs, taxpayers, tenants, owners, or those faced with the distorted mechanisms of bureaucracy, large corporations, or even the unscrupulous. The program's role, applying the principles of proper investigative journalism, is to act as a "fourth estate," as a controller of the system—a role that has characterized the paper in recent years and has further convinced me of the potential of journalism to expose but also to change the course of events. Local investigations are the most complex, because they operate in a local context where everyone knows each other, because there is no shortage of pressure, but they offer a great opportunity, because journalistic work of exposé often leads to the solution of problems. And this, for me, is the greatest satisfaction.
How has the media landscape evolved during your time at Swiss Radio and Television, and what changes have you noticed in the way the public consumes news?
When I started working at RSI, the digital age hadn't yet begun; there was no internet, no social media. The only competition was television, and it was available on a still limited number of channels. The advent of digitalization posed a major challenge to RSI. The need to be able to deliver content online has made communication more streamlined, more direct, and easier to consume, without diminishing the complexity of the facts being reported. It's a challenging challenge, for example. Clear agreements It has succeeded in seizing the opportunity by offering an attractive, accessible format, with a simple yet formally lively language, without compromising its role as a rigorous and precise news outlet. Today, in such a crowded media landscape, the winner is the one who stands out for his originality, but also who can offer guarantees of journalistic rigor, reliability, and independence.
What advice would you give to young aspiring journalists who want to enter the world of journalism?
«I would start from a phrase of a famous correspondent of the Corriere della Sera which read: “The job of a journalist is difficult, full of responsibility, with long hours, even nights and holidays, but it's still better than working.” A quote that tells a great truth: the work of a journalist, for those who truly believe in it, is a mission, so exciting that doing it feels like the only thing you want to do, and so it becomes like a hobby. If you have this passion, this desire, if it truly excites you, you're on the right path. Then it takes general knowledge, study, and dedication. But nothing is burdensome if the goal is clear, if the desire to succeed drives you. Dream big and commit to small things, every day: read, write, be curious, compare. There are no shortcuts, and above all, you never stop learning.”
