Nobel Peace Prize 2021: Know more about winners Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov

Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2021 for their efforts to protect freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia, respectively. “Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee as she announced the prize in Oslo, on October 8. Ressa and Muratov have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2021 for their brave fight for freedom of expression. At the same time, they are ambassadors for all journalists who fight for this ideal in a world where democracy and press freedom are increasingly threatened. 

Who is Maria Ressa?

Maria Angelita Ressa became this year's first female Nobel laureate and the Philippines' first independent Nobel laureate. Maria A Ressa is the CEO and executive editor of Rappler, a social news network based in the Philippines. Ressa has worked as a journalist in Asia for nearly three decades, the majority of which she spent as the bureau chief of CNN in Manila (1987-1995) and subsequently Jakarta (1995-2005). She was CNN's main investigative correspondent covering terrorism in Southeast Asia and the author of Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of al-Newest Qaeda's Operations Center in Southeast Asia (Free Press, 2003). She became the president of ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs in 2005, where she spent six years defining strategic direction and overseeing more than 1,000 journalists for the Philippines' largest multi-platform news operation.

Ressa was named one of Time's Person of the Year 2018 as one of a group of journalists fighting fake news worldwide. Ressa is one of the 25 leading figures on Reporters Without Borders' Information and Democracy Commission. Ressa was awarded the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize in April 2021.

She has taught courses throughout Southeast Asia on Politics and the Press for her alma mater, Princeton University, as well as broadcast journalism for the University of the Philippines. As author-in-residence and Senior Fellow at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, she worked on her second book, From Bin Laden to Facebook. She is also a Visiting Scholar from South-East Asia at the Naval Postgraduate School's CORE Lab in Monterey, California.

Maria Ressa uses her right to free speech to expose abuses of power, the use of violence, and the rise of authoritarianism in her native Philippines. Ressa has demonstrated herself to be a brave supporter of freedom of expression as a journalist and CEO of Rappler. Rappler has criticised the Duterte administration's controversial and fatal anti-drug campaign. The campaign resembles a battle waged against the country's own people due to many deaths.  Ressa and Rappler have also exposed how social media is being used to propagate false information, harass dissenters, and sway public opinion.

Who is Dmitry Muratov?

Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov is a Russian journalist and the editor-in-chief of the Russian daily Novaya Gazeta, which the Committee to Protect Journalists has described as "the only authentically critical publication with national significance in Russia today." The publication is noted for its in-depth coverage of delicate issues like government corruption and human rights violations. He was the editor of the newspaper from 1995 until 2017.

The Committee to Protect Journalists awarded him the International Press Freedom Award in 2007. The prize honours journalists who have demonstrated courage in protecting journalistic freedom in the face of threats, incarceration, or violence. He was awarded the Legion of Honor, France's highest honour, in the degree of Chevalier on January 18, 2010. (Knight). In Middelburg, the Netherlands, on May 29, 2010, he received the Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech for the Novaya Gazeta. He spent five years at Lomonosov Moscow State University's Faculty of Philology when he discovered his passion for journalism. He networked with local publications and worked part-time in journalism while in college. Muratov started working as a correspondent for the Volzhsky Komsomolets newspaper in 1987. At this publication, Muratov was given a chance to express himself and prove himself truly. His superiors were so impressed that he was promoted to Head of the Komsomolskaya Pravda Youth Department by the end of his first year and then to the editor of news pieces.

Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov has fought for the freedom of speech in Russia for decades, despite increasingly difficult circumstances. Novaja Gazeta has published critical pieces on various topics since its inception in 1993, including corruption, police aggression, unlawful arrests, election fraud, and “troll factories,” as well as the use of Russian armed forces both inside and outside Russia.

Image: AP