Filipino journalist Maria Ressa has been named the recipient of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Press Freedom Prize. Last April 27, 2021, the investigative journalist from the Philippines was announced as the 2021 laureate of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize on the recommendation of an international jury of media professionals. Maria Ressa received the award in a ceremony webcast from Windhoek, Namibia, on the eve of World Press Freedom Day on May 3. Ressa has had more than three decades of experience as a journalist which includes working as CNN’s principal investigative reporter for Asia, head of news for ABS-CBN Philippines, and the founder of Rappler social news network. UNESCO cites the Filipino journalist as having participated in numerous international initiatives aimed at promoting press freedom. “In recent years, she has been the target of online attacks and legal proceedings related to her reporting and being the director of online media Rappler,” reported UNESCO. “Maria Ressa’s infallible fight for freedom of expression is an example for many journalists around the world. Her case is emblematic of global trends which represent a real threat to press freedom and therefore to democracy,” said Marilu Mastrogiovanni, President of the International Prize Jury. Maria Ressa received the World Press Freedom Prize of $25,000 prize as recognition for her outstanding contributions to the defense or promotion of press freedom, especially in the face of danger. It bears the name of Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombian journalist assassinated in front of the headquarters of his newspaper, El Espectador in Bogotá, Colombia, on December 17, 1986. It is funded by the Guillermo Cano Isaza Foundation, the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation (Finland), and the Namibia Media Trust. Maria Ressa is a Filipino-American journalist who was named 2018 TIME Person of the Year, representing press freedom fighters that year, and has received numerous awards such as the 2018 WAN-INFRA Golden Pen of Freedom and the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award.
Source: Good News Pilipinas
