Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa, a winner of the National Press Club's John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award, will address the threats facing press freedom worldwide and the opportunities for civil society to respond at a Headliners Luncheon on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Ressa, a former CNN bureau chief who co-founded the Philippine news site Rappler, has been lauded by press organizations across the globe for her fearless journalism and efforts to sound the alarm about the use of digital technology to undermine democratic institutions.
The Club honored her in 2020 one year before she and fellow journalist Dmitry Muratov won the Nobel Peace Prize “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
Rappler's dogged reporting on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's violent anti-drug campaign, government corruption and human rights violations, and Ressa's reporting on the government's use of social media to spread propaganda has placed her in Duterte's crosshairs. Duterte has banned Rappler's reporters from covering his official events and in 2018 revoked Rappler's media license. In 2020, she was convicted of "cyber-libel."
Her recent book, “How to Stand Up to a Dictator,” has been translated into 18 languages.
"The more I was attacked for my journalism, the more resolute I became. I had first-hand evidence of abuse of power. What was meant to intimidate me and Rappler only strengthened us," Ressa said in her Nobel Prize lecture in December 2021.
The event begins with lunch in the Club ballroom at 12:30 p.m. Remarks begin at 1 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer session ending at 2 p.m. Club members may purchase tickets for $25. Non-member tickets cost $45. For all ticketing-related questions, please email [email protected]. Tickets must be paid for at the time of purchase.
To reserve your ticket, click here.
To submit a question in advance for the speaker, put RESSA in the subject line and email it to [email protected]. The deadline for submitting questions in advance is 10 a.m. on the day of the luncheon.
