Star struck professor meets Nobel Prize winner
You never know when you’ll run into a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

I met Maria Ressa, the 2021 recipient from Rappler media in the Philippines, during a reception at the East West Center InternationalMedia Conference in Honolulu. We chatted for a few  minutes about journalism, and life.

Maria Ressa, in black, and Korean colleagues

We talked first about her joint peace prize recipient Dmitry Muratov, a journalist under siege in Russia. Ressa said she’s in touch with Muratov. His family has left Russia, but he remains, despite the threats. I could tell she’s worried about her colleague. I asked if the peace prize protects her and Muratov, or if it makes them a target. She replied that it’s impact is a little of both. She said it makes her a bigger target (as evidenced by the 7 charges currently filed against her in the Philippines), but that the prize gives her a higher profile and more visible platform.

Ressa’s intellect, insightfulness, and humility that was evident during our chat was on display the next day at her keynote address to the conference.

The keynote’s headline was Ressa’s announcement that Rappler had just received a shut down order from the government. She said Rappler will appeal, noting that the order demonstrates that “the rule of law has been bent to the point that it’s breaking” in the Philippines.

Ressa went on to detail the avalanche of online hate directed at her because of Rappler’s critical reporting of the Duterte regime and because of her elevated profile. At its peak, 90 hate messages per hour were directed at Ressa, including threats of bodily harm. She said, “You don’t want the threat to rule (your) world…Embrace your fear!”

She noted that her online experience is not atypical since 73% of female journalists experience online hate.

So, what can be done to combat what Ressa calls the “toxic sludge” of online hate and misinformation?

She recommends a “whole society” approach to address social media toxicity. This approach involves education, establishing legal frameworks, fact checking, and facilitating collaboration on the topic among media, academic, civil society, religious institutions, and businesses.

Ressa concluded her keynote with the question, “What will you sacrifice for the truth?” It’s a vital question for everyone, but especially for journalists.

Next: More East West Center conference highlights, including my two peace journalism sessions.