The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their fight for freedom of expression in their countries.
Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, announced the joint winners at an award ceremony in Oslo on Friday.
Ressa, who in 2012 co-founded digital media company Rappler, was recognised for using "freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism" in her native country, the Philippines.
Russian Muratov "has for decades defended freedom of speech in Russia under increasingly challenging conditions" as one of the founders and current chief editor of independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the Nobel Committee said.
"Freedom of expression and a free press is a prerequisite for a democratic society," Ms Reiss-Andersen said upon announcing the two new peace laureates.
"This prize will not solve the problems that journalists and freedom of expression [are] facing but what we hope is that it will shed a light on the importance of the work of journalists and how dangerous it is [and] it is our intention to underscore how important this activity is for democracy and peace."
The prize is the first for journalists since the German Carl von Ossietzky won it in 1935 for revealing his country's secret post-war rearmament program.
In addition to a gold medal and global acclaim, Nobel Prize winners receive a monetary award of 10 million Swedish krona, more than $1.5 million AUD.
Responding to her win, Ressa said it showed that "nothing is possible without facts".
"A world without facts means a world without truth and trust," she said during a livestreamed interview with Rappler.
Muratov dedicated his prize to Novaya Gazeta's six journalists and contributors killed since 2000.
"I can't take credit for this. This is Novaya Gazeta's. It is that of those who died defending the right of people to freedom of speech," Muratov was cited by Russian news agency TASS as saying.
The Kremlin on Friday congratulated Muratov, with Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters he is "talented" and "courageous".
With wires.
