HARTFORD, CT — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa was honored this week at the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government’s Cronkite Freedom of Information Award gala, as students and faculty from the University of Connecticut joined the event as Gold Sponsors.
The talk followed Ressa’s reporting career and relentless advocacy for press freedom, both in the United States and her native Philippines.
The UConn Journalism Department and the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute jointly sponsored the event.
Faculty members Marie Shanahan, Amanda Jane Crawford, Steven Kalb, and Kate Farrish accompanied students to the ceremony.
Farrish, who serves as president of CFOG, appeared with Ressa during the gala, joined by Shanahan and Colleen M. Murphy, a CFOG board member and the executive director of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission.
In addition to the public program, Ressa also met privately with UConn students and faculty earlier that day.
During that gathering, students had the opportunity to ask Ressa questions about her career. Ressa spoke about her work as a CNN investigative reporter and her role as founder and CEO of Rappler, a news outlet in the Philippines.
She has faced severe legal challenges in her country due to her coverage of extrajudicial killings under former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Over a period marked by harassment and arrest, Ressa was taken into custody ten times. The charges, including cyberlibel, failed to halt her work. She stayed visible, vocal, and unshaken in “holding the line.”
Ressa’s confrontation with Duterte’s government became a focal point of global attention on press intimidation. Her arrests were widely seen as attempts to discredit her reporting and undermine Rappler’s work.
Yet, her journalism and international advocacy earned her the Nobel Peace Prize and global recognition for defending democratic values.
UConn’s participation in the gala came through CFOG, a nonprofit that works to educate the public about government transparency, the First Amendment, and Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act.
Shanahan, head of UConn’s journalism department, and Crawford, also serve on the board. The university’s involvement underscored its emphasis on investigative reporting and human rights as part of its academic mission.
The gala served as an intersection of global and local advocacy for open government.
As part of the ceremony, Ressa engaged directly with students, asking about their goals and motivations in pursuing journalism.
Throughout the evening, Ressa shared her perspective on media, disinformation, and personal risk. Her appearance came as Connecticut continues celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Freedom of Information Act.
CFOG’s recognition of Ressa connects local transparency efforts to international struggles for open expression and independent reporting.
For the UConn students in attendance, the evening presented a rare chance to interact with a journalist whose life has become a global case study in resilience and resistance.
The event closed with renewed commitments from CFOG and academic institutions to protect access to information and journalistic integrity across all levels of governance and society.
