Meedan Board Member named Time Person of the Year

Rappler CEO Maria Ressa honored for defending journalism in the Philippines

Meedan board member Maria Ressa was today named Time magazine “Person of the Year”, along with the late Jamal Khashoggi, journalists Wa Lone & Kyaw Soe Oo of Reuters (imprisoned in Myanmar), and the staff of The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland.

In their edition “The Guardians and the War on Truth” Time highlights the work of a select group of journalists around the world who risk all, and in some cases have paid with their lives, to hold public figures to account through their reporting. Maria Ressa, CEO and founder of Rappler in the Philippines, has faced a series of legal threats and online harassment over her reporting on the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte.

“I think the biggest problem that we face right now is that the beacon of democracy, the one that stood up for both human rights and press freedom — the United States — now is very confused,” says Ressa, the Rappler editor. “What are the values of the United States?”

“While we work everyday on building tools and designing projects, the deeper mission at Meedan is to embody a set of values from the journalists and human rights workers we support. Maria’s embodiment of these values, of courage and resolve against mis-used power, is a tangible contribution to our work, to the people of the Philippines and to the world. We celebrate her honor and the struggle for truth and journalism this year’s selection represents.” Ed Bice, CEO and founder, Meedan.

Meedan is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to building technologies, supporting research, and implementing projects in service of global journalism. Donate here.