Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Speaks At Potomac School In McLean

MCLEAN, VA — A journalist who won the Nobel Peace Prize spoke at the Potomac School in McLean last Thursday, one day before testifying to the U.S. Senate about the state of freedom of expression in Asia.

Ressa, a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, spoke to an assembly at the upper school as well as a global perspectives and citizenship class.

"Ms. Ressa’s presentation was an incredibly exciting and enriching learning experience for Potomac’s Upper School community," said Head of School John Kowalik. "We are grateful to her for sharing her time and insights with us."

Maria Ressa was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 along with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov. The criteria for Ressa winning the Nobel Peace Prize was "for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace."

Born in the Philippines, Ressa has covered Asia for over 35 years as a journalist. She is the co-founder of Rappler, a news site supporting press freedom in the Philippines. Ressa has a particular focus on covering the authoritarian regime of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, revealing violence, abuse of power and authoritarianism, according to the Nobel Prize website. Ressa and her news platform Rappler have also showed the connection between social media and fake news, harassment of political opponents and manipulation of public information.

According to Rappler's website, "Maria has endured constant political harassment and arrests by the Duterte government, forced to post bail ten times to stay free."

Along with the Nobel Peace Prize, Ressa has won various other journalism awards for her work and was named to Time Magazine's Person of the Year list in 2018.

At the Potomac School, Ressa spoke about press freedom, social media, moral integrity, surveillance capitalism and emergent human behavior. She spoke about moving to the U.S. from the Philippines as a child, her interview with Duterte, and the 10 outstanding arrest warrants against her in the Philippines.

Ressa had words of wisdom to give to students about ethics as they move on to careers.

"As you all move on to take leadership positions, situational ethics will make it seem
harder," Ressa told students. "Know where your integrity lies, and where your North Star is."