Nobel Peace Prize goes to journalism

Mehmet Safak Sari
2 min readOct 17, 2021

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their efforts to protect freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.

Why so important?

Their Nobel Peace Prize comes at a time of as never before in history attacks on journalists in the form of massive crackdowns, digital surveillance, and an erosion of public trust in journalism.

Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said that “they were awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace”

Congratulatory Messages

Many international professional organizations combating freedom of expression and media rights released messages congratulating the two journalists.

So what does this award means for journalists? In today, rights and freedoms have been destroying and democracies disappearing. Despite being under pressure and facing death in many regions of the world, journalists are in a critical position as the voice of the public in the protection of rights and freedoms. What’s behind this award?

Kathy Kiely‘s article published on NiemanLab answers exactly this question.

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Mehmet Safak Sari

Journalist, Communications Specialist • Researcher | Field: #InformationDisorder #SurveillanceCapitalism #MediaLiteracy #NewMedia | msafaksari.com