We’ve all heard of the Nobel Prize, and once a year we learn about some new people trying to make our world a better place. Sometimes it’s easy to understand why they won the prize, curing a disease or discovering the mysteries of our galaxy through a telescope. Other years I might read about the winner and get in over my head pretty quick!
This year seems like one of the most justifiable awards I can remember; Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, journalists in the Philippines and Russia, respectively. Of course I’d never heard of these people previously, but that is a great part of the Nobel Prize. We can celebrate accomplishments from a global perspective, and learn about something important in the process.
I did some reading and learned that the Nobel Prize was established by a Swedish industrialist who invented dynamite, Alfred Nobel. It was first awarded in 1901 and has since become basically the highest honor a person can win in the fields of Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, Literature and Peace. According to Mr. Nobel’s will, the peace prize should be awarded annually to the person who did the best work towards fraternity between nations, reduction of armies, and the promotion of peace.
So how did this year’s winners accomplish those goals? Why are 2 journalists in foreign countries so important to world peace?
Maria Ressa lives in the Philippines, a country experiencing increasing authoritarianism, abuse of power and violence. Recent murder rates in her country (6.5 homicides / 100,000 people in 2018) were the highest in southeast Asia, and that is actually an improvement (9.8 / 100,000 in 2014). By contrast, countries like Germany, the UK and Canada were far lower (0.8, 1.2, 1.8 homicides in 2018, respectively).
After founding an independent company for investigative journalism in 2012, Maria Ressa has become a fearless defender of freedom of expression, reporting on government-sanctioned violence as well as the use of social media to spread misinformation.
Dmitry Muratov has been defending freedom of speech for nearly 30 years, operating the most independent newspaper in Russia, the Novaya Gazeta. This publication has maintained a critical attitude towards power, using fact-based journalism to investigate corruption, police violence, election fraud and most recently, Russian “troll factories” used to develop and spread misinformation. As a result, the Gazeta has been targeted with harassment, threats and violence; since its inception in 1993, six Gazeta journalists have been killed.
Independent, fact-based journalism protects a society against abuse of power and misinformation. Legally protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, our American founding fathers understood the importance of the press and its need to remain free from government or corporate control.
Today’s news is often filtered through the lens of cable tv networks, spun with opinions from one side or another. And many more of us are now relying on a brand new, unproven technology (social media) for our information diet, with potential for even less reliability. In a time when we are seeing a rise in authoritarianism from Russia and the Philippines to Turkey and Brazil, it seems especially impactful for the Nobel Committee to recognize Ressa and Muratov. By speaking truth to power, in spite of the dangerous consequences, these journalists deserve all the recognition and prize money they are receiving!
We Americans enjoy so many freedoms and may take for granted something like access to good information. Maybe we all could do our part to support journalism and buy that yearly subscription to our local newspaper, or buy one for a friend. The Pine Belt News starts at just $30/year! And if we had to cut back someplace else, maybe the cable news bill would be a good place to start?
Chris Werle of Lamar County is Mississippi state coordinator for the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Write him at chriswerle@cclvolunteer.org.
