Students and faculty from the UConn Journalism Department and the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute at UConn had a memorable and inspiring time meeting Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa. The department and the institute were a Gold Sponsor of the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government's Cronkite Freedom of Information Award gala, which honored Ressa for her fearless reporting and tireless advocacy for a free press in the U.S., her native country, the Philippines and around the world.The students and professors Marie Shanahan, Amanda Crawford, Steven Kalb and Kate Farrish, had a private session with Ressa in which they got to ask her questions about her impressive career as an investigative reporter with CNN and as founder and CEO of Rappler, a news outlet in the Philippines. After uncovering extra-judicial killings in the Philippines by then President Rodrigo Duterte, Ressa was arrested 10 times for cyberlibel and other crimes as Duterte attempted to silence her. It didn't work.
Ressa was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2021 for her work covering the authoritarian tactics of Duterte. She then wrote the book ‘How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future’ in 2022.
Farrish is president of CFOG and Shanahan and Crawford serve on the board of the nonprofit, whose mission to educate the public about the importance of government transparency, the First Amendment and the state's Freedom of Information Act.
