The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov jointly won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for their fights to defend freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia, the Norwegian Noble Committee in Oslo announced today.
A UN spokesperson mentioning the Nobel Peace Prize award to the investigative journalists said at a briefing at the United Nations in Geneva that “the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee has just announced that it has decided to award the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Ressa and Dimitri Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace says the Committee. I would like to congratulate the two laureates”.
The two journalists were chosen out of 329 candidates for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Ms Ressa, who co-founded the news site Rappler in 2012, was commended by the Norwegian Noble Committee for using freedom of expression to “expose abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines”.
The site now has 4,5 million followers on Facebook and has become known for its intelligent analysis and hard-hitting investigations. It is one of the few Philippine media organizations to be openly critical of President Rodrigo Duterte and his policies.
Rappler has extensively published on the populist president’s deadly war on drugs and has taken a critical look at issues such as misogyny, human rights violations and corruption.
Earlier this year in April, the investigative journalist and media executive Maria Ressa has received the 2021 press freedom award by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). According to UNESCO, Ms. Ressa has been arrested for “alleged crimes related to the exercise of her profession”, and has been subject to a sustained campaign of gendered online abuse, threats and harassment, which at one point, resulted in her receiving an average of over 90 hateful messages an hour on Facebook.
The former lead investigative journalist for Asia at CNN and head of ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, Ms. Ressa was also among a group of journalists named as Time Magazine’s person of the year in 2018.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa said upon her nomination that “nothing is possible without facts….a world without facts means a world without truth and trust”.
-ends-
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying.
- Medium-wide shot, inside the press conference room, showing speakers and participants.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Alessandra Vellucci, Director of United Nations Information Service in Geneva: “The Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee has just announced that it has decided to award the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Ressa and Dimitri Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace says the Committee. I would like to congratulate the two laureates.”
- Wide shot, inside one of the rooms at the Palais, participants attending the conference “Maria Ressa Rappler Free Media Pioneer”.
- Medium shot of speakers at the conference.
- Close shot, a participant taking pictures of the event.
- Medium shot, Maria Ressa speaking in front of the audience.
- Wide shot, inside the conference room, showing speakers and participants.
- Medium shot, M. Ressa delivering her speech.
- Medium shot, from the back, speakers seated in front of their audience.
- Close shot, M. Ressa adjusting her microphone.
- Close shot, from the back, one of the speakers delivering his speech.
- Medium shot, speakers seated listening to the conference.
- Medium-wide shot, high camera angle, the table of speakers with a large-screen TV showing the conference room.
- Medium shot, inside the conference room, people seated.
- Close shot, a participant listening to the conference using headphones.
- Close shot of a smartphone filming the conference.
Following images are ARCHIVE FOOTAGE:
UN Geneva, International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress (4-6 June 2019)
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC Ebola outbreak: hundreds of suspected cases, no vaccine
A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has health workers rushing to stop transmission while the roll out of any potential vaccine is months away, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
A UN Human Rights Office report released today covers 19 months of large-scale violations of international law including atrocity crimes, from October 2023 to the end of May 2025.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
At least six million people in Somalia are going days without enough food, UN aid teams warned on Friday, highlighting that nearly two million of this number are young children “at high risk of illness or death”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Children shot, stabbed and pepper-sprayed in occupied West Bank; scores of Gaza amputees denied prosthetics, aid teams warn
Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming Palestinian children, while in Gaza tens of thousands with life-changing injuries lack access to treatment and rehabilitation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The risk of hantavirus spreading to the general population is “absolutely low”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) stressed on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , IFRC
Death and destruction have continued unabated in Lebanon while communities are still unable to return to their homes despite a ceasefire that began on 17 April, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Deadly hantavirus on board cruise ship may be transmitted among humans - WHO
Hantavirus victims on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean may have been infected prior to joining the cruise and human-to-human transmission on board cannot be ruled out – although it is rare - the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief concerned by upheld convictions of Cambodian activists.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , OHCHR
Middle East crisis puts aid, food, fuel further out of reach for millions already struggling – UN agencies
As the Middle East crisis continues the humanitarian fallout is worsening, with aid route disruptions and food and fuel price hikes wrecking the lives and rights of the most vulnerable, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNMAS
Demining experts from around the world have been sharing their collective shock at the widespread and growing threat from unexploded ordnance, the new head of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office in Syria conducted a 5-day visit to the northeast of the country where they received accounts of human rights violations and abuses.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Sudan: ‘History repeating itself’ for Darfur’s children - UNICEF
Mass atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur 20 years ago reverberated as far as Hollywood, but today, a new generation of children faces attacks, hunger and displacement in an emergency largely ignored by the outside world, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.