The editors and reporters of the Philippine news site Rappler were busy Friday. It was the last day candidates could file to run in next year’s elections, and the journalists were watching to see who would try to replace Rodrigo Duterte, the president who for years has attacked Rappler and threatened its staff members.
Then Maria Ressa, one of the news outlet’s founders, heard she and Russian journalist Dmitri Muratov had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their “courageous fight for freedom of expression.” Word got out, and a slew of “OMGs” flooded the company’s Slack channel.
For several hours, the staff said, they were energized by Ressa’s award. But they know tough times lie ahead. The news website could still be shut down. There are seven active court cases pending against Ressa and Rappler. The site’s journalists face immense pressure from online trolls, who have been emboldened by Duterte’s suggestion that reporters should be treated as “spies” who are “not exempted from assassination.”
“We need to fight and soldier on,” said Gemma Mendoza, who leads Rappler’s efforts to address disinformation in digital media. “You feel, when you’re in this situation, that it is bigger than yourself. And having that feeling fuels you and you keep going.”
At stake is the future of one of the few independent journalistic institutions in the Philippines. With coverage about abuses by the police in Duterte’s war on drugs and stories about corrupt deals involving local businessmen, Rappler has come to symbolize fearless journalism in a region where the press is consistently hobbled.
Ressa manages the business and tech operations of the newsroom. To get around the loss of advertisers because of Duterte’s attacks, Rappler has put its resources into data-driven projects and subscriptions. Even with a newsroom of only 15 reporters, it launched more podcasts and short videos during the pandemic, allowing the company to be profitable in 2020.
Reporters for Rappler acknowledge these are trying times. Access is an issue because of Duterte’s attacks on them. The psychological burden of being trolled, especially in a newsroom where the median age is only 23, is draining. But they are still striving to — in the words of Ressa — “hold the line.”
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