Journalists Ressa and Muratov receive Nobel Peace Prize

Journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia warn world needs independent reporting to counter the power of authoritarian governments. The two journalists who shared this year’s Nobel Peace Prize have received their awards during a pomp-filled ceremony in Norway, where both warned that the world needs independent reporting to counter the power of authoritarian governments. “Let us rise and honour my and Maria Ressa’s reporter colleagues, who have given their lives for this profession, with a minute of silence, and let us give our support to those who suffer persecution,” Muratov said, adding: “I want journalists to die old.” ‘Toxic sludge’ on social media Ressa, the first person from the Philippines to win the Nobel Peace Prize, offered a bleak assessment of the media industry, saying “the era of competition for news is dead”. Robert Mahoney, deputy executive director at the Committee to Protect Journalists, told Al Jazeera that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to journalists was “extremely important and extremely welcome” in order to highlight the growing challenges and threats the media faces. “It’s the first time in more than 80 years that journalists have been awarded the Nobel peace prize, and the journalists from the Philippines and Russia are from two of the countries where it’s incredibly dangerous and difficult to be an independent journalist,” he said.