NPR’s Scott Detrow talks with Nobel Peace Prize winner journalist Maria Russa about the Trump administration and freedom of the press.
Scott Detrow, host:
On Friday, the Justice Department retracted Biden-era policies that provide protection to journalists in its leak investigation. The change paves the way authorities could use diving dives and force testimony from reporters on probes targeting leaks. This is the type of announcement that bothers Maria Russa, especially in the context of many other moves that the Trump White House has made. Ressa is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and has been a champion of freedom of the press around the world for many years.
Ressa co-founded research news site Rappler in her home country in the Philippines in 2012. There, she spent years managing the regime of the country’s former president, Rodrigo Duterte, and the violent war against drugs. Her report led to Ressa becoming a target of that administration and she was arrested multiple times before she was ultimately found guilty in 2020.
Now, Ressa has a harsh warning that the United States is sliding towards authoritarianism at an astonishing speed. She joins me now and talks more about it. welcome.
Maria Russa: Thank you for welcoming me.
DETROW: Let’s start now. Do you feel familiar with what’s going on in America in 2025?
Ressa: Oh my god, I feel like I have – it feels like Deja Vu and I have PTSD – you are very, very familiar. And I think it actually is like suppressing my anger in my stomach hole. So I’m trying to control it too.
DETROW: There’s a lot going on in the world of concern about authoritarianism, the world of freedom of the press.
RESSA: Yes.
DETROW: What are these specifics from the last 100 days or so you said, is this a bad thing?
RESSA: In other words, in all respects – you are looking in the Philippines under Rodrigo Duterte. There is a constitution like the United States. It is patterned after the US, which collapsed within six months of inauguration under three comparable branches of the government – and Duterte. All of these moves he’s done are accelerating in the US. Let’s take a look at it step by step. There are four levels that I keep thinking about. Of course, the accelerator is technology…
DETROW: Yes.
RESSA: …Is that so? – Because our public information ecosystem on social media is literally on the side of lies. The second level of attack is news organizations, media. And in the Philippines we talked about it as three CS -corrupt, corece and co-opt. Once you have it, you will be taken to the next layer, the Academy. After that, it’s an NGO – the academy, the NGO, and the last layer is the state, the state capture. You capture everything, and as you rise in rank, your rule of law decreases. The rule of law begins to collapse. Not only is it illegal, it normalizes what was a criminal.
DETROW: One of the stories of this past 100 days is how President Trump has targeted some kind of agency in many ways. Columbia University – Here you are currently teaching…
RESSA: Yes.
DETROW: …The first of the university wave saying these grants are at risk unless you change something specific. Typically, large law firms acting with democratic organizations and actors – we are going to bring you all kinds of consequences unless you cut back on your transactions. You can go on, but I’ve seen a lot of examples that the organization has said. We’re still going to make that deal because we want to survive.
I feel like everyone is imagining themselves, I stand up, or when I face such pressure I am not? You were in that situation. Your news organization has been targeted. You have been arrested. I think there may have been many places where you might have thought or said, what do you know? Someone else can do this. I want to avoid being in prison. Have you ever come close to cutting off any kind of deal? And what did you think the moment you realised there was pressure on you?
Ressa: You know, I don’t know who you are until you are forced to fight for it. If I had left, I would have gathered reporters and weakened them. At that point – I was attacked when I was in my 50s, and I was – if I really believe in these values, I just need to move forward. And the crazy thing is that you don’t know what works. You just take it step by step, my guide light, North Star is the value you are living in.
And I think this is a challenge for everyone. People want immediate answers. But the fight to maintain your rights – do not voluntarily give up your rights. I felt like I couldn’t do both for myself – how would I wake up and look in the mirror the next day? -But how do I face the people I have adopted, those who believe this? And even worse, what does that mean for your ideal? I wasn’t going to kill it.
And finally, in the end – and I think this is the best advice – whatever it is that you fear most, you have to accept your fear and think about it. Think through the worst case scenario. Workflow. We excavated it at Rappler. And if you knock it out, you can stand up and stand up to your values. These times are important.
DETROW: There is a lot of evidence that many people in the country simply don’t care about what they have to say about this topic and what they have to say about the topic, and the tragic warning that someone who won the Nobel Peace Prize, or even Mike, is told what’s right. There is realistic anti-adult sentiment in this country. There is real anti-media sentiment in this country. That’s a broad thing. And I’m sure there are people who are listening to this, looking at what we’re saying. How do you respond to that moment? As someone with deep concern, do you pass through the message at the moment?
RESSA: I think so – what we did in the Philippines is moving into the physical world, right? The work we did at Rappler shows you that it all starts in our technological corrupt environment. Our public relations ecosystem literally manipulates our reality. And the Friends-of-Friends algorithm, the growth algorithm, literally caused the polarity we live in.
So I actually keep on doing and telling the story. And when I see you face to face and think about something different, I will engage you the way we should. I think this is what journalists do. So this person doesn’t just believe in this, it’s not just because it’s not the only thing. This person is manipulated gloomyly. And does that mean we stop trying to reach that person? It’s definitely not.
DETROW: It’s Maria Russa, co-founder of research news site Rappler and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Thank you very much.
RESSA: Thank you for welcoming me.
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