Two writers whose work has infuriated the experts in Russia and the Philippines were granted the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, respecting the right to free discourse which the prize-giving council portrayed as under danger throughout the planet. Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov were given the honor “for their gutsy battle for the opportunity of articulation in the Philippines and Russia,” Chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen of the Norwegian Nobel Committee told newsgathering.
“Simultaneously, they are agents of all writers who support this idea in a world where majority rules system and opportunity of the press face progressively antagonistic conditions,” she added. The prize is the first for columnists since the German Carl von Ossietzky won it in 1935 for uncovering his country’s mysterious post-war rearmament program.
“Free, autonomous, and truth-based news coverage serves to secure against maltreatment of force, lies, and war publicity,” Reiss-Andersen said. The Nobel Peace Prize will be introduced on Dec. 10, the commemoration of the demise of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who established the honors in his 1895 will.
