page_title: Maria Ressa
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Maria Ressa / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: President Benigno S. Aquino III answers questions directed to him by Rappler's Chief Executive Officer Maria Ressa during an interview at the Music Room of the Malacañan Palace on Tuesday (June 07, 2016). (Photo by Joseph Vidal / Malacañang Photo Bureau)
context_page_description: Maria Angelita Ressa is a Filipino-American journalist and author, best known for co-founding Rappler as its chief executive officer. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in Southeast Asia for CNN.
  Ressa was included in Time's Person of the Year 2018 as one of a collection of journalists from around the world combating fake news. On February 13, 2019, she was arrested for "cyberlibel" due to accusations that Rappler published a false news story concerning businessman Wilfredo Keng. On June 15, 2020, a court in Manila found her guilty of cyberlibel. As she is an outspoken critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, her arrest was seen by many in the international media and the opposition Liberal Party as a politically motivated act by Duterte's government. Ressa is one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by Reporters Without Borders.
context_section_description: Ressa's first job was at government station PTV 4. She then co-founded independent production company Probe in 1987, and simultaneously served as CNN's bureau chief in Manila until 1995. She then ran CNN's Jakarta bureau from 1995 to 2005. As CNN's lead investigative reporter in Asia, she specialized in investigating terrorist networks. She became an author-in-residence at the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) of Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
  From 2004, Ressa headed the news division of ABS-CBN, while also writing for CNN and The Wall Street Journal. In September 2010, she wrote a piece for The Wall Street Journal criticising the then president Beningno Aquino III handling of the bus hostage crisis. This piece was published two weeks before the president's official visit to the United States of America. Speculations were rife this among other reasons finally led to Ressa leaving the company in 2010, after deciding not to renew her contract.
caption: Ressa conducts an interview with former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III at the Music Room of the Malacañang Palace, June 7, 2016
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