Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov awarded Nobel Peace Prize 2021 for fighting for press freedom
They won the prestigious award for their "courageous fight" to defend freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia.
FollowJournalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov on Friday were awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to promote freedom of the press and report in the face of authoritarian governments.
They won the prestigious award for their "courageous fight" to defend freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia.
The committee called the pair "representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal".
The winners were announced by Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
“By giving the Peace Prize to two very courageous outstanding journalists that have proved excellent in their profession really illustrates what it means to be a journalist and how you exercise freedom of expression even under the most difficult and destructive circumstances,” she said.
The statement from the committee called them “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.
The statement emphasized that “freedom of expression and freedom of information help to ensure an informed public. These rights are crucial prerequisites for democracy and protect against war and conflict.”
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The winners were chosen out of 329 candidates and won the prestigious prize, worth 10m Swedish krona (£836,000; $1.1m).
The Nobel Peace Prize is intended to honour an individual or organisation that has "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations".
"Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda," said Reiss-Andersen.
"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," it added.
