Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and Russian journalist Dmitri Muratov won the Nobel Peace Prize today, October 8, 2021, “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
Ressa is the first individual Filipino to ever win the prestigious prize. In an interview right after, Ressa said, “It’s a recognition of the difficulties, but also hopefully of how we’re going to win the battle for truth, the battle for facts: We hold the line.”
Ressa has received backlash from the Duterte administration for her coverage criticizing the war on drugs and its other policies. She, along with other Rappler staff, is facing a cyber libel charge and several cases and has posted bail countless times because of their stories.
Aside from championing press freedom, Ressa is also active in leading the global fight against disinformation.
As the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, a newspaper critical of the Russian government, Muratov and his co-journalists report the corruption and human rights violations occurring in Russia. The newspaper consequently received harsh crackdowns, causing the deaths of three journalists.
The Philippines and Russia rank 138 and 150 in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, respectively. Under these risky circumstances, Ressa’s and Muratov’s Nobel Peace Prize win is well-deserved for their significant contributions to press freedom.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize annually, only awarding 109 people since its establishment in 1902.
The late president Corazon Aquino was nominated for the same award in 1987 for leading the peaceful 1986 revolution that toppled the regime of then-president Ferdinand Marcos. Despite being a heavy favorite, Aquino lost to President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica.
In 2007, former Ateneo de Manila University president Father Jeff Villarin was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The main awardee then was former US President Al Gore.
Ressa has been covering Asia for 35 years now. Before Rappler, she was with CNN until 2005, after which she headed the News Department of ABS-CBN. Ressa was also awarded as TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2018.
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