advertisement
Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov on Friday, 8 October, won the Nobel Peace Prize 2021.
They have bagged the award “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
Both journalists have faced several attempts from both Philippines and Russian governments to silence their publication.
Ressa is the Executive Editor and CEO of Rappler – an online news outlet – covering the policies and actions of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's regime.
Born in Manila in 1963, Ressa co-founded independent production company Probe in 1987, while she also functioned as CNN's bureau chief in Manila until 1995. For the next 10 years, she ran the channel's Jakarta bureau, until 2005.
Ressa was named Time's Person of the Year in 2018. The following year, in February 2019, the journalist was arrested over a Rappler news story on businessman Wilfredo Keng.
An outspoken critic of Duterte, Ressa's arrest was seen as politically motivated, and a means to silence her.
Muratov is the editor-in-chief of Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. It was founded by him in 1993, and he edited the newspaper until 2017.
According to CNN, the newspaper has exposed several cases of abuse of power, human rights violation and corruption.
The Committee to Protect Journalists called his newspaper the "only truly critical newspaper with national influence in Russia today."
The editor also received for the Novaya Gazeta the Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech in Middelburg, the Netherlands in 2010.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)