Journalism
Maria Ressa
Journalist, Nobel Peace Prize 2021
Born 1963
Photo: Jaramo81 · CC BY 4.0
«Imagine what you're most afraid of, touch it and hold it so that you rob it of its power.»
Maria Ressa co-founded the Philippine news site Rappler and used it to investigate government violence and online disinformation. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 while facing criminal charges that international observers called an attempt to silence her.
Key achievements
- Nobel Peace Prize, 2021, for defending freedom of expression
- Co-founded the news site Rappler in 2012
Universities
Princeton, New Jersey
Took a bachelor's degree in English with a certificate in theatre and dance in 1986.
Facts
- She moved from the Philippines to New Jersey at the age of ten speaking no English, and graduated from Princeton twelve years later.
- She spent nearly two decades at CNN as a bureau chief in Manila and Jakarta before starting her own newsroom.
- She was the first Nobel laureate from the Philippines, and at one point was free on bail from multiple arrest warrants at the same time.
Photographs
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; the author and licence are shown on each image.