The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) handed its Golden Pen of Freedom Award to Rappler executive editor and CEO Maria Ressa past midnight on Thursday. Just last month, Ressa received the Knight International Journalism Awards from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). The ICFJ in its announcement cited Rappler’s work in reporting “on the harsh policies of President Rodrigo Duterte.” president Rodrigo Duterte and Rappler locked horns over fake news and press freedom after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decided to shut down the online news site for alleged violations of the Constitution and corporate regulations. Duterte has called Rappler a “fake news outlet” that published stories “rife with innuendos and pregnant with falsity.”