Nobel Peace Prize winners Dmitry Muratov and Maria Ressa have warned that a rise in authoritarian governments requires a continued commitment to independent reporting.
The two journalists received the award for 2021 at Oslo City Hall on December 10, an honor they won for their separate battles to uncover the truth in countries -- Muratov in Russia, Ressa in the Philippines -- where freedom of expression and the media have faced growing attacks, and even killings, from hostile regimes.
"Yes, we growl and bite. Yes, we have sharp teeth and strong grip," the 59-year-old Muratov said of journalists in his acceptance speech.
"But we are the prerequisite for progress. We are the antidote against tyranny," he added.
Muratov, editor-in-chief of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya gazeta, also warned that some officials in Russia appeared to be agitating for war with Ukraine.
"The powerful actively promote the idea of war," said Muratov, 59, one of the founders in 1993 of Novaya gazeta. "Moreover, in [the] heads of some crazy geopoliticians, a war between Russia and Ukraine is not something impossible any longer."
U.S. officials have said Russia could soon invade Ukraine following a buildup of troops near the Ukrainian border. Moscow has denied it is planning an invasion.
In her speech, Ressa, who co-founded Rappler, a news website critical of the Philippine government, noted that for independent journalism to survive, greater protection must be given to journalists and countries must stand up against states that target journalists.
Muratov said journalism in Russia was going "through a dark valley," with more than 100 journalists, media outlets, human rights defenders and nongovernmental organizations having been branded as "foreign agents."
"In Russia, this means 'enemies of the people,'" Muratov said, dedicating his prize to "the entire community of investigative journalists" and his colleagues at Novaya gazeta who lost their lives, including Anna Politkovskaya, who was gunned down in her apartment building in Moscow 15 years ago after angering the Kremlin with dispatches from the war in Chechnya.
"I want journalists to die old."
The International Federation of Journalists in Brussels said on December 9 that imprisonments of media workers were on the rise, with 365 journalists behind bars compared with 235 last year. Nine journalists have been killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan alone and 102 imprisoned in China.
Together with the medals with the effigy of the prize founder Alfred Nobel and a diploma, came 10 million kronor ($1.1 million) to be shared between them.
