Maria Ressa at the Leong Hall Auditorium, Ateneo de Manila University

Maria A. Ressa is a Filipino journalist, CEO of Rappler,^[1] and author of Seeds of Terror, a book published by Free Press that contains blow-by-blow account of the hideouts of Al-Qaeda in Asia.

She served as the head of ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs Department from 2004-2010. Before joining ABS-CBN, Ms. Ressa worked for Cable News Network (CNN) for nearly two decades, serving as Manila Bureau Chief from 1988–1995 and as Jakarta Bureau Chief from 1995-2005. She traveled extensively and reported from her base in Southeast Asia as well as India, Pakistan, China, South Korea, Japan, Australia and the United States. As CNN’s lead investigative reporter in Asia, she specialized in investigating terrorist networks.^[2] Videotapes of her coverage of terrorism were found in what experts believe to be Osama bin Laden’s private videotape collection in Afghanistan.

Ms. Ressa graduated from Princeton University. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to the Philippines in 1986, where she attended graduate school at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Among the awards she has received are the Overseas Press Club Award for Best Documentary, the National Headliner Award for Investigative Journalism, an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, the Asian Television Awards, TOWNS – Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service and TOYM. Ms Ressa taught broadcasting principles at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and at Princeton University, she designed and taught a course on Politics and the Press in Southeast Asia.^[3]

In an open letter dated October 11, 2010, Ressa noted that she will not renew her six-year contract with the said network, saying that "It’s time for me (her) to move on." ^[4] She is now 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. Ressa and ICPVTR aims to come up with a book "on the terrorism threats in Asia, their connections to the global jihad and how governments are responding to these evolving threats." The book's release is expected to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.^[5]

In late 2010, Esquire magazine hailed Ressa as the Philippines' sexiest woman alive, citing her fearlessness in writing an eyewitness account of Al Qaeda "despite her size." ^[6] She has her own website ^[7] and has contributed write-ups for CNN.com ^[8] and Wall Street Journal.^[9]

References [edit]

1. ^ http://www.rappler.com/index.php?view=article&id=385 About Rappler
2. ^ http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=276203 Life, the news, and Maria Ressa by Doreen Yu
3. ^ http://www.mariaressa.com/official-bio Maria Ressa's biography posted on her website
4. ^ http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/insights/10/11/10/maria-ressas-letter-abs-cbn-news-and-current-affairs-team Maria Ressa's letter to ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs
5. ^ http://www.pvtr.org/pdf/MediaHighlights/MariaRessaInvitedToAuthorABookOnTheAsianTerrorismThreat.pdf Maria Ressa invited to author a book on the Asian terrorism threat
6. ^ http://www.esquire.com/women/the-sexiest-woman-alive/maria-ressa-picture-2010#fbIndex141 Maria Ressa-The Sexiest Woman Alive Atlas
7. ^ http://www.mariaressa.com Brave New World - Maria Ressa
8. ^ http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/03/bin.laden.southeast.asia Spreading terror: From bin Laden to Facebook in Southeast Asia
9. ^ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703417104575474533645106048.html Noynoy Flunks his First Test

Bibliography [edit]

• Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al- Qaeda Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia. The Free Press, 2003. ISBN 0-7432-5133-4 ISBN 978-0743251334

References [edit]