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Beth Frondoso | Rappler Filipino American Maria Ressa returned to the Philippines as the CNN bureau chief. |
Ressa and Muratov are receiving the Peace Prize for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia. At the same time, they are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions, says the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Ressa is the first Filipino to win a Nobel Prize. Born in the Philippines, Ressa immigrated to the U.S. in 1973 at the age of 10 with her mother. Her family settled in New Jersey. She graduated cum laude from Princeton with a degree in English.
"Maria is an inspiration to journalists across the globe, and of every generation,” said Michelle Ye Hee Lee, president of the Asian American Journalists Association.
“The AAJA community is beyond proud and encouraged that her pioneering leadership in journalism and in championing press freedom, and the role that press freedom plays in holding governments accountable to the people they serve, have been recognized by the Nobel committee," said Lee.
Her campaign to protect press freedom in the Philippines has garnered worldwide attention. She was named one of Time magazine's Person's of the Year for 2018 and last May was named the 2021 laureate of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
Ressa called the prize “a global recognition of the journalist’s role in repairing, fixing our broken world,” and said “it’s never been as hard to be a journalist as it is today.”
The last time the first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to journalists was in 1935 when Carl von Ossietzky won it for revealing Germany's secret post-war rearmament program.
“The AAJA community is beyond proud and encouraged that her pioneering leadership in journalism and in championing press freedom, and the role that press freedom plays in holding governments accountable to the people they serve, have been recognized by the Nobel committee. Maria is an inspiration to journalists across the globe, and of every generation,” said Michelle Ye Hee Lee, president of AAJA.
An AAJA-Asia statement expressed, “We thank the Nobel Prize committee for shining a light on freedom of expression and the role of journalists, particularly at a time when nearly all of the countries in Southeast Asia have fallen to the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index.”
The Nobel Peace Prize will be presented on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.
In selecting Ressa to share the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, the committee issued the following statement:
Maria Ressa uses freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines. In 2012, she co-founded Rappler, a digital media company for investigative journalism, which she still heads. As a journalist and the Rappler’s CEO, Ressa has shown herself to be a fearless defender of freedom of expression. Rappler has focused critical attention on the Duterte regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign. The number of deaths is so high that the campaign resembles a war waged against the country’s own population. Ms Ressa and Rappler have also documented how social media is being used to spread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public discourse.
“This relentless campaign of harassment and intimidation against me and my fellow journalists in the Philippines is a stark example of a global trend,” the 58-year old Ressa told The Associated Press.
Without freedom of expression and freedom of the press, it will be difficult to successfully promote fraternity between nations, disarmament and a better world order to succeed in our time. This year’s award of the Nobel Peace Prize is therefore firmly anchored in the provisions of Alfred Nobel’s will, says the Nobel committee.
For years, ahead of Congressionial hearings held last week that heard the testimony of a former Facebook employee who accused the social media platform of favored divisiveness and agry discourse to encourage "hits," which helps the company's profits. Ressa accused social media giants like Facebook as a serious threat to democracy, saying “they actually prioritized the spread of lies laced with anger and hate over facts.”
“I didn’t think that what we are going through would get that attention. But the fact that it did also shows you how important the battles we face are, right?” she said. “This is going to be what our elections are going to be like next year. It is a battle for facts. When you’re in a battle for facts, journalism is activism.”
AAJA expresses gratitude to Maria for inspiring AAPI journalists over the years. In 2019, Maria Ressa was the keynote speaker for AAJA’s annual convention gala dinner. Speaking on misinformation, “This is the battle of our generation. This battle for truth. A lie told a million times becomes a fact,” Ressa said.
"AAJA has stood by Ressa during her arrest and conviction on cyber libel charges, and we continue to proudly support her, fellow awardee Dmitriy Andreyvich Muratov, and all journalists who do the brave work of bringing the truth to their communities," the AAJA stated.
“As the first Filipina to win the Nobel Peace Prize and first woman to be honored this year (and only 18th woman in history), Maria is making and will continue to make history. We are grateful for her example and her constant support and encouragement throughout the years as AAJA continues to train up future generations of journalists as public servants,” said Naomi Tacuyan Underwood, executive director of AAJA.
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