“I want journalists to die old”: Nobel Peace Prize laureates denounce “dark period” for news – Le Monde

At Oslo City Hall, the ceremony of 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, which took place on Friday, December 10, was an opportunity to take stock of the state of freedom to inform in the world. “Journalism in Russia is going through a dark period”, regretted the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Dmitri Mouratov, co-winner of the award.

Known for its investigations into corruption and human rights abuses in Chechnya, its media outlet has seen six of its collaborators killed since the 1990s, including the famous journalist Anna Politkovskaya, murdered in 2006. “I want journalists to die old”, he declared, before observing a moment of silence for the reporters killed in the exercise of their profession.

In addition to the assassinations of their colleagues, around 100 journalists, media, human rights defenders and NGOs were prevented from working after being classified as “Foreign agents” by the Russian Ministry of Justice.

An infamous statute, supposed to target those who receive a “Foreign funding” and lead a “Political activity”, which Mr Muratov will probably escape – even though Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the prize was not a “Shield”. “I think that during the thirty years of existence of our newspaper, we have done so many positive things for the country that to declare ourselves ‘foreign agents’ would be harmful for the power of our country” and “Would be something stupid”, said the editor of Novaya Gazeta at Agence France-Presse.

Social media criticism

Her co-winner, the Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, launched a virulent attack on the American tech giants, guilty according to her of letting greed spill out “Toxic sludge” on social networks.

Co-founder of the Rappler news site, the journalist attacked “American Internet companies” like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, without naming them explicitly. “These American companies (…) are angry with the facts, angry with the journalists. By nature, they divide us and radicalize us ”, she explained, specifying that their technology “Allowed the virus of lies to infect each of us, pitting us against each other, bringing out our fears, anger and hatred, and paving the way for the rise of authoritarian rulers and dictators”.

At the helm of Rappler, a very critical site of the Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, M^me Ressa is the subject of seven legal proceedings in her country which she believes could earn her a total of around 100 years in prison. Convicted of defamation last year but on parole, she was forced to ask four courts for permission to seek her Nobel.

Record number of jailed journalists

At 1^er December, at least 1,636 journalists had been killed on the planet in twenty years, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders, including 46 since the start of the year. Moreover, with 293 reporters behind bars, the number of journalists imprisoned in the world has never been so high, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

“Reporting information to the public can in itself prevent war”, summarized the president of the Norwegian Nobel committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen: “The role of the press is to lift the veil on aggression and abuse of power, and thus to contribute to peace. “

The Oslo ceremony also saw the head of the World Food Program, David Beasley, deliver the acceptance speech for the Nobel awarded last year to the UN humanitarian agency. In 2020, the festivities were canceled due to the pandemic.