— AFP
THE two journalists who won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize have become international celebrities overnight. Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov will no doubt benefit from their increased prominence and status. At the same time, the celebrity that comes with the prize will bring a host of other challenges the winners will have to navigate.
I have researched the impact the Nobel Peace Prize has had on winners in recent decades, both in terms of the unexpected challenges they face in their work and the newfound attention it brings.
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Ressa reacting during an interview about her win earlier this month. — AP
Malala, who became the youngest winner of the prize in 2014, questioned marriage in an interview and faced fury in Pakistan. She’s pictured here in a 2019 file photo. — Reuters
Liu, the 2010 prize winner, faced repercussions and spent years in detention until his death in 2017. — AFP
Obama speaking after being awarded the 2009 prize. He donated his prize money to charities and the head of one of them admitted to mismanaging and personally profiting from the money. — Bloomberg
Aung, who won in 1991 and led Myanmar from 2015 until she was deposed by a coup in 2021, faced a backlash for her actions while in government. — AFP
Muratov talking to the media after his win — he has downplayed the buzz around his name, saying the award is for all of the staff at his newspaper, Novaya Gazeta. — AP
Tutu photographed on Oct 7. After winning the prize in 1984, he remarked that it had ‘the remarkable powers of an Open Sesame’. — Reuters
Ebadi, an Iranian who became the first woman prize winner from the Islamic world when she won in 2003, has also had to weather political backlashes since then. — Wikimedia Commons
Esquivel, the 1980 winner, suddenly found he had access to senior US lawmakers and European government officials. — Wikimedia Commons
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