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Two Journalists, Russia’s Muratov and Phillipines’ Ressa, Win Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia  for their “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace,” the Nobel Committee announced on October 8, 2021.

Dmitry Muratov has for decades defended freedom of speech in Russia under increasingly challenging conditions. In 1993, he was one of the founders of the independent newspaper Novaja Gazeta. The newspaper’s fact-based journalism and professional integrity have made it an important source of information on censurable aspects of Russian society rarely mentioned by other media.

Since the newspaper’s start, six of its journalists have been killed. Despite the killings and threats, Novaja Gazeta’s editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov has refused to abandon the newspaper’s independent policy. He has consistently defended the rights of journalists, a statement by the committee said.

Maria Ressa, the first woman Nobel laureate of this year, uses freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines, the statement said. In 2012, she co-founded Rappler, a digital media company for investigative journalism. Rappler has focused critical attention on the Duterte regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign.

According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Maria and Dimitri have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their fight for freedom of expression, one of the prerequisites for democracy and lasting peace.

This is the first time since 1935 that a journalist has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1935, German journalist Karl von Asiatsky was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The prestigious award is accompanied by a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1.14 million). The prize money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.

On Monday, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize in physiology or medicine to Americans David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their discoveries into how the human body perceives temperature and touch.

The Nobel Prize in physics was awarded on Tuesday to three scientists whose work found order in seeming disorder, helping to explain and predict complex forces of nature, including expanding our understanding of climate change.

Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan were named as laureates of the Nobel Prize for chemistry on Wednesday for finding an easier and environmentally cleaner way to build molecules that can be used to make compounds, including medicines and pesticides.

The Nobel Prize for literature was awarded on Thursday to U.K.-based Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah, who was recognized for his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee.”

Still to come Monday is the prize for outstanding work in the field economics.

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