On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, the Geneva Graduate Institute had the privilege of welcoming the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov.
Maria Ressa, founder of the news website Rappler in the Philippines, and Dmitry Muratov, Editor-in-Chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta in Moscow, discussed the state of press freedom in our fractured world.
In light of the current war in Ukraine, Dmitry Muratov said “propaganda is a kind of radiation, and once you have been subjected to this radiation, you get used to it and start believing it”. Maria Ressa therefore declared, "Without facts, you can't have truth. Without truth, you cannot have trust. Without trust, we have no shared reality, no rule of law, no democracy". She also underlined that the integrity of elections around the world cannot be assured without the integrity of facts.
In her speech, Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga stressed that politicians have a duty to protect journalists, as they are necessary for democracy.
During the event, the 2022 Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award was given by the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation and the City of Geneva to European cartoonists Vladimir Kazanevsky (Ukraine) and Gábor Pápai (Hungary).
This conference was organised by the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation and the City of Geneva in partnership with the Geneva Graduate Institute and Le Temps.