By Louis Chan, AsAmNews National Correspondent
Filipino American journalist Maria Ressa Friday in Norway accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous coverage of the Philippines under what many outside observers consider the brutal regime of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Ten years ago, she launched Rappler, an independent news outlet which is known for its relentless coverage of the Philippines and its government.
In accepting the award, Ressa described a world that pits journalists as the old gatekeepers and technology as the new gatekeepers.
“It has allowed a virus of lies to infect each of us, pitting us against each other, bringing out our fears, anger, hate, and setting the stage for the rise of authoritarians and dictators around the world,” she said. “Our greatest need today is to transform that hate and violence, the toxic sludge that’s coursing through our information ecosystem, prioritized by American internet companies that make more money by spreading that hate and triggering the worst in us.”
Throughout her 35 year career, Ressa has worked for such outlets as CNN and the Philippines’ largest media company, ABS-CBN. She currently faces seven lawsuits in the Philippines which she says could end with her being sentenced to 100 years in prison.
She is currently on parole for a conviction of defamation and had to ask four courts for permission to attend the award ceremony.
“I’ve said this repeatedly over the last five years: without facts, you can’t have truth. Without truth, you can’t have trust. Without trust, we have no shared reality, no democracy, and it becomes impossible to deal with the existential problems of our times: climate, coronavirus, now, the battle for truth.
Ressa shared the award and its $1.1 million prize with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov.
“Yes, we growl and bite. Yes, we have sharp teeth and strong grip,” Muratov said about journalists. “But we are the prerequisite for progress. We are the antidote against tyranny.”
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