On Friday, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Filipino journalist Maria Ressa and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov for their fight for freedom of expression in their respective nations. “For their efforts to defend freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and sustainable peace,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairperson of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Ressa, 58, said she was “shocked” and “emotional” to receive the award, which she said will provide her and her colleagues with “tremendous enthusiasm to continue the battle.”
Ressa co-founded Rappler, a digital investigative journalism startup that she still leads, in 2012, while Muratov is one of the founders of the independent daily Novaya Gazeta. Muratov, 59, has fought for the freedom of speech in Russia for decades, despite increasingly difficult circumstances. According to the committee, he co-founded Novaya Gazeta in 1993, a publication with a “fundamentally critical approach toward power,” according to the committee. Since 1995, he has served as its editor-in-chief.
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Six of the newspaper’s journalists have been killed since its inception, including Anna Politkovskaya, who authored illuminating stories about the Chechen war. “Despite the assassinations and threats, Muratov, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, has refused to renounce the newspaper’s independent position,” Reiss-Andersen added. “He has repeatedly defended journalists’ ability to write anything they want about whatever they want, as long as they follow the profession’s professional and ethical norms.”
Before Friday’s announcement, media watchdogs were identified as possibilities for the prestigious award. Last year, the World Food Programme, the UN’s humanitarian agency combatting famine, received the award (WFP).
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The prize, which consists of a diploma, a gold medal, and a check for 10 million kronor (980,000 euros, $1.1 million), is customarily presented on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896. The Nobel Peace Prize is the only one given in Norway’s capital. Due to the epidemic, it is unclear whether Ressa and Muratov will go to Oslo to accept the honor. The Nobel season will come to a close on Monday with the presentation of the Economics Prize.
