Nobel Peace Prize winners say independent journalism can counter tyranny

Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov are first journalists to win the prize since 1935

Nobel Peace Prize laureates Maria Ressa (L) of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia pose with their awards (NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

The two journalists who shared this year’s Nobel Peace Prize have warned that the world must support independent journalism and protect reporters to counter the power of authoritarian governments.

Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia received their awards in Oslo on Friday, having been chosen for their separate fights for freedom of expression in countries where reporters have faced persistent attacks, harassment and killings.

Ms Ressa, 58, co-founded Rappler, a news website critical of the Philippine government, in 2012. Mr Muratov, 59, was one of the founders in 1993 of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

The first person from the Philippines to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Ms Ressa offered a bleak assessment of the journalism industry, saying “the era of competition for news is dead”.

“We need to help independent journalism survive, first by giving greater protection to journalists and standing up against states which target journalists,” she told the audience of 200 people, including Norwegian royals and officials.

Mr Muratov said that in Russia, journalism “is going through a dark valley” with many reporters and human rights activists being branded as “foreign agents”.

He also used his speech to give a dire warning about the potential for a war between Russia and Ukraine. A massive Russian troop buildup near Ukraine’s border has led to western diplomatic efforts to prevent an invasion, which the Kremlin has denied it is planning.

“In [the] heads of some crazy geopoliticians, a war between Russia and Ukraine is not something impossible any longer. But I know that wars end with identifying soldiers and exchanging prisoners,” Mr Muratov said.

He ended his lecture by asking the assembly to honour reporters “who have given their lives for this profession, with a minute of silence” before saying “I want journalists to die old”.

On Thursday, the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists said that more media workers are being imprisoned, with 365 journalists behind bars compared with 235 last year. Nine journalists have been killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan alone and 102 imprisoned in China.

Ms Ressa and Mr Muratov are the first journalists to receive the Nobel Peace Prize since Germany’s Carl von Ossietzky won the 1935 award for revealing the Nazis’ secret rearmament programme. The winners share 10 million kronor (£833,000) between them.