<p>Amid widespread outrage at the guilty verdict handed to Maria Ressa, co-founder of the independent news website Rappler, and its writer, Reynaldo Santos Jr, many international civil society organizations have called for the case to be dismissed.</p>

<p>The conviction of a prominent journalist for criminal libel is a devastating blow to media freedom in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/philippines">Philippines</a>, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/15/philippines-rappler-verdict-blow-media-freedom">Human Rights Watch said today</a>.</p>

<p>Maria Ressa talks press freedom, threats against journalists, disinformation network, and calls for collaboration in her keynote address at the 2019 Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Hamburg, Germany.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Philippines-based online news agency Rappler was announced as one of the two winners in the large outlet category of the 2019 Global Shining Light Awards on Saturday night (28 September) for their story &ldquo;<a href="https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/tondo-vigilante-gang-war-on-drugs-series-part-one">Murder in Manila</a>&rdquo;.</p>