The murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and other persecuted journalists have named as Time magazine's 'Person of the Year' for 2018.
Mr Khashoggi is named alongside Capital Gazette, Maria Ressa, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo as 'The Guardians' - the magazine's choice for the high-profile title.
They're described as "four journalists and one news organisation who have paid a terrible price to seize the challenge of this moment".
Time praises them as "taking great risks in pursuit of greater truths, for the imperfect but essential quest for facts, for speaking up and for speaking out".
The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland is the US newspaper that saw five members of its staff killed in a mass shooting at the paper's office in June.
Maria Ressa, from the Philippines, is the head of the Rappler news site.
Her website has heavily documented the violent war against drugs - which has seen thousands of extrajudicial government - being conducted by the country's government.
Amid increasing hostility from President Rodrigo Duterte's government for their work, Ms Ressa and Rappler's parent company have recently been charged with tax evasion - charges Ms Ressa has vowed to challenge.
The Guardians—Jamal Khashoggi, the Capital Gazette, Maria Ressa, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo—are TIME's Person of the Year 2018 #TIMEPOY https://t.co/HvoEaW5oUi pic.twitter.com/9Mr0wBTmvj
— TIME (@TIME) December 11, 2018
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, meanwhile, are two Reuters reporters who have been jailed in Myanmar.
Reuters reports that the two young journalists were sentenced to seven years in prison for breaching official secrets legislation after they "exposed a massacre of 10 Muslim men and implicated security forces in the killings".
"Terrible price"
Mr Khashoggi is the Washington Post columnist who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.
He was a prominent critic of the Saudi regime, including powerful crown prince and de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman (often referred to as MBS).
After earlier denials, Saudi Arabia ultimately confirmed Mr Khashoggi was murdered in the building in Turkey - and have since arrested more than 20 people in connection with the killing.
The government has denied MBS was involved in the operation which they blamed on rogue officials - but US senators are among those who have accused the crown prince of being 'complicit' in the killing.
Explaining the magazine's choice to name 'The Guardians' as person of the year, Time magazine's Karl Vick writes: "The strongmen of the world only look strong. All despots live in fear of their people.
"To see genuine strength, look to the spaces where individuals dare to describe what’s going on in front of them."
It's the second year in a row a group has been named 'Person of the Year', after the 'Silence Breakers' were awarded the title last year after the emergence of the #MeToo movement.
