The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to two journalists on Friday. Filipino Maria Ressa and Russian Dmitry Muratov share the award for their “courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia”.
That has been announced by the Nobel Committee. Freedom of expression is, according to the committee, a precondition for guaranteeing democracy and lasting peace.
According to the organization, the two journalists are “representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press are becoming increasingly unfavorable.”
Maria Ressa
“Maria Ressa uses freedom of speech to denounce the abuse of power, violence and growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines,” the committee said. In 2012, Ressa co -founded Rappler , a digital media company for investigative journalism.
Rappler is credited by the Nobel Committee for documenting “how social media is used to spread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public debate.”
Dmitry Muratov
Dmitry Muratov “has been defending freedom of expression in Russia for decades under increasingly challenging circumstances,” the Nobel committee said. In 1993 he was one of the founders of the independent newspaper Novaja Gazeta .
The newspaper carries ‘fact-based journalism’ and has ‘professional integrity’, the committee finds. This has made the daily a “important source of information about disapproving aspects of Russian society that are rarely mentioned by other media.”
Novaya Gazeta publishes critical articles on topics ranging from corruption, police brutality, illegal arrests, electoral fraud and the use of Russian ‘troll factories’ to influence business at home and abroad.
(Source, De Standaard: https://tinyurl.com/2tvy3afc )