Oslo: The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded this year's Nobel Prize for peace to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia citing their fight for freedom of expression.
The winners were announced Friday by Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The Nobel committee while announcing the award lauded Rappler- a news website that was co-founded by Ressa. The website which focused on the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte regime's controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign also documented how social media is being used to spread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public discourse.
Muratov was one of the founders of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta in 1993, with a fundamentally critical attitude towards power, the Nobel committee said.
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, it added.
The Nobel committee noted that since the launch of Novaya Gazeta, six of its journalists have been killed, among them Anna Politkovskaya who covered Russia's bloody conflict in Chechnya.
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
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.