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Everything about Elena Basile, the new Orsini of TV

7 months ago babelfish

Everything about Elena Basile, the new Orsini of TV

Who is Elena Basile, what she thinks and what qualifications does she really have, the writer of Fatto Quotidiano which is becoming popular on TV about Israel and Hamas

Is Elena Basile the new Alessandro Orsini on TV?

Here's who Elena Basile is, what she thinks and what qualifications she really has, the writer of Fatto Quotidiano which is becoming popular on TV about Israel and Hamas

“Every war has the Orsini it deserves. In this round we have the turn of the former ambassador Elena Basile", so Massimo Gramellini in the incipit of his column 'Il caffè' in the Corriere della sera which yesterday wanted to headline 'Hostages of Basile'.

She is the former diplomat/writer at the center of the debate in the media in recent days, highly sought after by talk shows (particularly on La7 ) to talk about the war between Hamas and Israel.

ELENA BASILE'S CLASHES WITH CAZZULLO AND FORMIGLI

In two broadcasts on Urbano Cairo's network, Basile was the protagonist of equally violent verbal clashes. Wednesday evening with Aldo Cazzullo during the program Otto e Mezzo ; Thursday evening instead with Piazzapulita host Riccardo Formigli in an episode that culminated with the former ambassador's advance greetings.

Basile's statements and theses are at the basis of the friction.

Da Lilli Gruber argued that the fact that there are "very few American hostages is bad news, if there were many hostages I think the United States could have that moderating role…". Da Formigli left the program after several interruptions and after stating: "I believe in a journalism that does not perform but seeks answers… You asked me to come here, otherwise I wouldn't have come."

IPATIA OR ELENA BASILE

Between 2022 and 2023, Elena Basile, under the pseudonym 'Ipatia', signed numerous articles on the war in Ukraine in the daily newspaper Fatto in which for example she wrote: "Who established the axiom that Ukraine is a democratic state that fights against a dictatorship?”.

Stefano Cappellini in Repubblica reports that "at the Farnesina they talk about the Basile phenomenon as if it were another Vannacci case: that is, a medium-low ranking official who has decided to otherwise vent his resentment for the existence of a career not in line with his self-perceived talent" .

THE DEBATE ON THE TITLE OF AMBASSADOR

Basile has also been targeted on social media in recent days because – although Lilli Gruber calls her 'ambassador' – she has in fact never been a high-ranking ambassador. So much so that two days ago the Italian Diplomats' Union (SNDMAE) intervened with a note specifying that she had "never been promoted to the rank of ambassador".

“Dr. Basile – continues the note – has in fact resigned from her diplomatic career with the rank of Plenipotentiary Minister, and although, after having served in Tananarive, Toronto, Budapest and Lisbon, she also carried out pro functions during her career tempore as Head of Mission in Sweden and Belgium, she was never promoted to the rank of Ambassador. This is not a mere formal distinction but correct information for the public, since the title of Ambassador directly affects the perception of the interlocutor's authority".

WHAT THEY SAY AT THE FARNESINA ABOUT ELENA BASILE

Ettore Sequi himself, former director general of the Farnesina, explained on X: “There is some confusion about the use of the title Ambassador. They can be called as follows: 1) the Ambassadors of rank who have reached the maximum level of Diplomacy, even after their retirement. Those in active service are only about twenty. 2) Diplomats – even of lower rank – in the period in which they are in charge of an Embassy, ​​usually medium-small. However, when that specific role ends they are again defined with the -lower- rank they actually have (e.g.: Minister Plenipotentiary, Embassy Counselor)”.

Then the final comment: “Various 'ranking non-Ambassadors' (some even well-known: I count at least 3) “tolerate” being called 'Ambassador' even if in reality they are not. But we cannot expect everyone to know the rites and liturgies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!” Who knows who the three (non) 'ambassadors' are…

ELENA BASILE'S ANSWER: MUD MACHINE

Still on Practice: Function ambassadors are called Ambassadors. Everyone. Ridiculous, petty bureaucracy. Mud machine”.

Article published on policymakermag.it

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/elena-basile-orsini-tv/ on Sat, 14 Oct 2023 05:25:44 +0000.