Rappler rises

agency within the Department of Finance responsible for regulating industries, including the mass media. Duterte had accused the organization of being owned by foreigners and in violation of foreign equity restrictions. By March, the government launched an additional investigation for tax evasion. Ressa was subjected to vicious trolling and received death threats by the hour. One young Rappler journalist, Pia Ranada, who had stood up to Duterte’s intimidations, was barred from Malacañang press conferences. Rappler’s advertising subscriptions plummeted.

Rather than be cowed, the assaults seemed to wake Ressa and galvanize her colleagues and Rappler journalists. Rappler stepped up its coverage on extrajudicial killings and corruption. Ressa wrote strong pieces on the weaponization of the internet, decrying the president’s army of social media trolls, the pervasiveness of fake news and its purveyors, and the erosion of press freedom in the Philippines. With fellow jour-

Veteran journalists Marites Danguilan Vitug (left), and Chay Hofilena of Rappler news.

Manila University and a Columbia

University graduate, she faced the press and announced she would a meeting with the investigative reporter Patricia Evangelista. There are nine full-time Rappler reporters and they are young, and yes, I would