Maria Ressa, a journalist for CNN for 20 years, is the director of the investigative website Rappler.com in the Philippines, where democracy has been in danger since the election of President Rodrigo Duterte in May 2016. She has just been awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov. We interviewed her in 2019 as part of our journalism masterclasses. In this interview conducted by Michel Beuret, Head of Editorial content at Fondation Hirondelle, Maria Ressa explains the role of journalists in the face of threats and disinformation circulating on social networks.

In his crusade against drugs, Philippine President Duterte is encouraging the outright murder of anyone suspected of having links with the drug trade. Through massive campaigns of hatred and state disinformation on social networks, the regime also persecutes journalists, plunging the country into a civil war (27,000 deaths to date). In the face of this Philippine laboratory, which prefigured the Trump era through its use of social networks, Rappler.com is on the front line against fake news, for the search for truth and the survival of democracy. Maria Ressa, its director, was awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov.


A "masterclass" video to watch below. Select the subtitles in English or French by clicking on the settings :