Wednesday 19th March 2025
In today’s world, very few have the power to fight for the truth. And the ones who do are not rewarded, they’re rather punished, tortured, shunned or forgotten!
But Time Magazine defied the odds and went on to list such ‘Guardians of Truth’ in its special feature titled The Guardians & the War on Truth.
The acclaimed magazine listed the names of a group of journalists in its edition ‘Person of the Year’ including Late Saudi Arabian writer ‘Jamal Khashoggi’ and a pair of Reuters journalists ‘Wa Lone’ & ‘Kyaw Soe Oo’.
Jamal Khashoggi
Saudi Arabian Journalist Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was killed two months ago at the Saudi Consulate, Istanbul. The Time features listed the brave journalist to honor his contribution to the truth.
Maria Ressa
The Guardians & the War on Truth also honored Maria Ressa, Philippine News Site ‘Rappler’ Founder. The site was a frequent critic of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and Capital Gazette newspaper’s staff in Annapolis, Maryland.
The Philippines Justice Department charged Ressa and her website with Tax Evasion.
Wa Lone & Kyaw Soe Oo
The Reuters journalist-duo was convicted by the Myanmar Government under the Colonial-era Officials Secret Act in a case for violating democratic freedom.
December 12, 2018 will make a year since the journalists were imprisoned for their work.
Time said that it chose to honor journalism in an era when critical democracy is under threat from both governments and technological advances.
“I hope that this is received by the public at large far, far beyond the United States as a reminder of the importance of defending free expression and the pursuit of truth and facts. That is the baseline for all free societies. Democracy certainly cannot function without a shared understanding of the facts,” said Ben Goldberger, Assistant Managing Editor, Time Magazine, during an interview.
Time Magazine’s annual coverage is dedicated to recognizing a person, group, thing or idea’s contribution to world events in that particular year. It has honored several important world influencers such as US Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King Jr, Queen Elizabeth and Adolf Hitler.
