At GIJC25, Nobel Prize Laureate Maria Ressa Calls for ‘Radical Collaboration’ to Combat Misinformation and Preserve Press Freedom

By Rowan Philp 

Maria Ressa — a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and co-founder of the pioneering investigative outlet Rappler — opened the 14th Global Investigative Journalism Conference (GIJC25) in Malaysia with a powerful call for the under-fire investigative reporting community to embrace “radical collaboration,” and to use the crisis as an opportunity for impact and survival.

“Everything we knew as an industry has been destroyed. So we don’t stand still. This is a time for radical collaboration.” — Rappler CEO and Nobel Prize laureate Maria Ressa

At a global moment of rampant authoritarianism, emboldened tech oligarchs, media funding freezes, and both cyber and physical attacks on journalists, Ressa used her keynote address to warn that many press freedoms may only have one year left before they could be forever lost. But she recounted her own personal experience of persecution in the Philippines to show how a relentless commitment to hold powerful actors accountable — even in the face of repression — can lead to sustainable revenue and justice.

“I had 11 arrest warrants in 2019 — that was the year Rappler became profitable,” she noted, prompting cheers from the audience. She acknowledged that the repeated arrests of newsroom leaders was “not exactly a sustainable business model” for others to emulate, but noted Rappler’s turnaround was an example of how audiences can rally around a courageous press. She also cast it as an extreme example of how “crisis is opportunity” for resource-challenged and harassed newsrooms worldwide.

Referring to Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, Ressa prompted cheers from assembled journalists when she pointed out why she remains optimistic about the future of investigative journalism. “I want to tell you why I remain optimistic, why I think we can do this,” she said. “It’s because the man who tried to jail me and close Rappler down was arrested in March this year, and he’s now at The Hague for crimes against humanity. So you see: if you keep doing your jobs and collaborate together, impunity ends.”

However, Ressa also described several existential threats currently facing the media and civil society. “This is the deadliest year for journalists — 250 killed in Gaza alone,” she noted.

In a dramatic moment, Ressa warned that 2026 could represent a crucial, one-year window for many independent newsrooms to secure their rights, their partnerships, and their new sustainability models.

“The best advice we in the Philippines can give to those Western countries is: you fight now, when you still have your rights, because those rights will decrease, and clawing them back later on is near impossible,” she warned. “To the funders: this is the moment. If you don’t do this, if you don’t meet the moment, then in the next year, we will have fallen even further. If we do not do those things — collaborate, especially — then I think medium-size news organizations will die within a year.”

Algorithmic Threat to Facts and Democracy 

Ressa warned of the poisonous and polarizing consequences of the global war on facts perpetrated by tech algorithms, where hate is amplified and vulnerable communities are further marginalized.

“Without facts you can’t have truth; without truth you can’t have trust,” she cautioned. “Without these, you cannot solve existential problems like climate change. You cannot have democracy. As [has been said]: colonialism didn’t die; it just moved online.”

“Our enemies are not the governments. They rose on top of technologies that have literally splintered our societies apart. None of the tech that rules our lives today is anchored in facts.” — Maria Ressa

Ressa also warned of growing kleptocracy around the world, fueled by the “normalization of lies” through feedback loops amplified by decentralized networks of influencers and reinforced by platforms that reward emotionally charged content.

Before giving her speech, Ressa joined in a moment of solidarity with journalists under attack worldwide, organized in partnership with the Committee to Protect Journalists. She joined the more than 1,000 attendees gathered in the conference hall for a photo, in a symbolic recognition of the work being done by an investigative community holding the line for facts and accountability everywhere.

“Everything we knew as an industry has been destroyed,” she said. “So we don’t stand still. This is a time for radical collaboration. This is also a time for creation.” She added: “Our enemies are not the governments. They rose on top of technologies that have literally splintered our societies apart. None of the tech that rules our lives today is anchored in facts.”

Her more specific appeals to the community included:

• Journalists in the European Union should relentlessly hold their governments to their stated human rights and press freedom standards. “I look to those here from the EU: hold on, and don’t backslide with your good press laws.”
• Reporters should investigate and expose the epidemic of online harassment of women journalists, and those who enable it. Ressa pointed out that 73% of women journalists experience online abuse, and 25% receive threats of physical violence — some of which transform into physical harm.
• Newsrooms should do a frank assessment about the painful tradeoffs of social media. “How long do we want to keep working for the tech companies for free?” she asked. Rather, she said they should consider solutions like public interest tech stacks or audience meet-ups in which “real people can talk to real people without being manipulated by algorithms.”
• Use investigations to challenge and stop the “surveillance-for-profit” industry.
• Avoid — at all costs — further marginalizing groups via the press who are already marginalized in the physical world.

“My dream is a global federation of news organizations. I think we can do it — the code is there already,” she added. “All we have to do is work together while we still have strength. Otherwise, we will be depleted — and I think we only have a year.”

Resilience of the Investigative Journalism Community 

Ressa’s speech followed a conference welcome from leaders of the two co-hosts of the event: Emilia Díaz-Struck, executive director of the Global Investigative Journalism Network, and Premesh Chandran, co-founder of Malaysiakini.

“Despite all these challenges we’re facing… we are alive; we are resilient; and we are doing the investigative journalism that is key for society: holding powers to account.” — GIJN Executive Director Emilia Díaz-Struck

“We are so excited — this is the first time we are hosting the global conference in Asia,” said Diaz-Struck. “We know this was a tough year for everyone. But the fact that we have more than 1,500 attendees from 135 countries and territories sends a very powerful message.”

She noted that the conference had doubled its prior complement of speakers from Africa, MENA, and Latin America — and tripled the number of speakers from Asia.

Said Chandran: “In 2018, we here in Malaysia had our first change of government in 60 years, and that was driven by journalists. Many here have been pushing the boundaries.”

Diaz-Struck added: “Despite all these challenges we’re facing — democracy going backwards, wars, more journalists in exile — we are alive; we are resilient; and we are doing the investigative journalism that is key for society: holding powers to account.”

Source: GIJN - https://gijn.org/stories/gijc25-maria-ressa-keynote-address/