The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize to independent journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
The award is an indirect thumbs down to the authoritarian leaders of both countries — Rodrigo Duterte and Vladimir Putin, both of whom have been praised by our former president.
In its press release, the Nobel Committee said Ressa and Muratov 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.”
According to The Committee to Protect Journalists, 17 media workers were killed in the Philippines and 23 in Russia in the last decade.
Ressa, 58, co-founded and heads Rappler, a digital media company for investigative journalism, which has exposed “abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism” in the Philippines. She wrote extensively about the Duterte ‘s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign in which the death toll was so high that it resembled a war waged by the regime against its own people.
Rappler has also documented how social media is being used to spread fake news, harass regime opponents
population. Ms Ressa and Rappler have also documented how social media is being used to spread fake news and harass regime opponents.
Ressa, the first Filipino to win the Peace Prize, was convicted of cyber libel in 2020 for a story about corruption involving a businessman in a case that was widely condemned by human rights activists worldwide. She was sentenced to between six months and six years in prison, but she is free on bail while the verdict is being appealed.
In Russia, Muratov, 60, was one of the founders of the independent newspaper Novaja Gazeta and since 1995, he has been the editor-in-chief of Russia’s most independent newspaper.
The Nobel Committee said Novaja Gazeta has taken “a fundamentally critical attitude towards power” by publishing “critical articles on subjects ranging from corruption, police violence, unlawful arrests, electoral fraud and `troll factories’ to the use of Russian military forces both within and outside Russia.
As a result, the newspaper’s opponents “have responded with harassment, threats, violence and murder,” the Nobel Committee said. Six of its journalists have been killed, including Anna Politkovskaja who wrote about Russia’s bloody war in Chechnya.
“Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda,” the Nobel Committee said.
Ressa told The Associated Press that she hopes the Nobel award will bolster investigative journalism “that will hold power to account.”
“This relentless campaign of harassment and intimidation against me and my fellow journalists in the Philippines is a stark example of a global trend that journalists and freedom of the press facing increasingly adverse conditions.”
She also pointed to 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.”
Ressa also called attention to next year’s critical presidential election. Duterte is not seeking re-election, but wants his daughter, Davao Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, to be the candidate of the ruling party. Other members of the ruling party have declared their candidacies, including Fernando Marcos, Jr., the son of the former dictator, and boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.
Ressa told The AP that the May 2022 elections will be “a battle for facts. When you’re in a battle for facts, journalism is activism.”
According to The AP, Muratov said he would use his share of the prize to help beleaguered independent journalists in Russia, including those whose organizations have been declared “foreign agents” by the Putin regime.
“We will use it to shore up Russian journalism that has faced repressions,” he said in comments carried by a Russian messaging app channel. “We will try to help the people who have been designated as agents, have faced persecution and have been forced out of the country.”
At a news conference outside his home, Muratov said he would have given the Nobel Peace Prize to another Russian, jailed opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny, who had been seen as a favorite to win the prize, according to The New York Times.
“If I had been on the Nobel Peace Prize committee, I would have voted for the person whom the bookmakers bet on,” Mr. Muratov said in a news conference outside his newspaper’s Moscow headquarters. “But I believe this person still has everything ahead of him. I mean Aleksei Navalny.”
Surprisingly, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised the award to the Kremlin critic, according to The Associated Press.. He praised Muratov as a “talented and brave” person.
“We can congratulate Dmitry Muratov — he has consistently worked in accordance with his ideals,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
Here is more reaction regarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureates: