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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

'Good news' for world press

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MOSCOW/PARIS: Former Soviet leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev said this year's edition awarded to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov was "good news" for the world's press.


"This is good, very good news," he said in a statement. "This award raises the importance of the press in the modern world to great heights."


UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres tweeted that the award was "a reminder that no society can be free without journalists who can investigate wrongdoing and speak truth to power."


Taking her cue from the Nobel Committee, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights thanked all journalists, noting that conditions were becoming increasingly difficult for them in many countries.


'CALL FOR MOBILISATION'


In Paris, Reporters Without Borders called the Nobel committee's decision to award its Peace Prize to two embattled journalists "a call for mobilisation".


"This is a call for mobilisation to defend journalism," said Christophe Deloire, secretary general of the advocacy group known by its French initials RSF.


The award sparked a sense of both "joy and urgency", he told reporters.


"Joy because this is an extraordinary tribute to journalism. This is an excellent tribute to two incredible figures, Maria and Dmitry," he said.


But there is also a feeling of urgency, he said, because "journalism is in danger, journalism is weakened, journalism is threatened... all over the world".


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