Bomb explodes outside home of top Italian investigative journalist

Audio By Carbonatix

By Giulia Segreti and Alvise Armellini

ROME (Reuters) -A bomb exploded outside the home of one of Italy’s top investigative journalists late on Thursday, damaging two cars belonging to his family and prompting messages of solidarity for the reporter from colleagues and politicians.

Sigfrido Ranucci, who hosts state broadcaster RAI’s weekly “Report” programme, has been under police protection for years. He said both he and his newsroom had received regular threats of various kinds, including being sent bullets.

The rudimentary device, weighing around 1 kilogram (2.2 lb), was planted outside the front gate of Ranucci’s house in Campo Ascolano, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) south of Rome, the journalist said on Friday.

It went off at 10:17 p.m. (2017 GMT), about 20 minutes after he had returned home, and wrecked two cars — one belonging to Ranucci and the other to his daughter.

Nobody was injured, with Ranucci saying “apart from the shock, everything is OK”.

ANSA news agency said anti-Mafia prosecutors had opened an investigation for criminal damage with aggravating circumstances of mafia-style methods.

Earlier this week, the Italian journalists’ federation FNSI said 81 reporters had been victims of acts of intimidation, including 16 cases of physical assault, in the first half of 2025, up from 46 in the same period of 2024.

SOLIDARITY FROM PRIME MINISTER, ARMOURED CAR PROTECTION

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the “serious act of intimidation”, adding that “freedom and independence of information are essential values of our democracies, which we will continue to defend”.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Ranucci’s police escort would be stepped up. The journalist said separately he would be given an armoured car.

The International Federation of Journalists said the bomb attack was “particularly troubling” as it coincided with the anniversary of the 2017 murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta.

“(We) strongly condemn the attempted murder of a journalist, which constitutes a direct assault on media freedom, and urgently call for a thorough investigation to ensure that the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice,” it said.

“Report”, Italy’s best-known investigative journalism programme, has often clashed with the government, resulting in several Meloni allies – including Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso, and her head of cabinet Gaetano Caputi – suing the show.

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti and Alvise Armellini; Editing by Alex Richardson and Crispian Balmer)