Hollywood actress Meryl Streep has paid tribute to late Maltese reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia among others in an open letter that details why the world needs journalists more than ever.
The three-time Oscar winner praised the bravery of Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb in October last year after her investigation into money-laundering and corruption in the Mediterranean island nation.
The 69-year-old Streep, who portrayed the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, Katharine Graham, in The Post, also singled out Mexican journalist Patricia Mayorga and CNN correspondent Arwa Damon for praise.
In a letter commissioned by fashion magazine Porter, Streep highlighted the importance of what she described as “relentless, annoying questioners” in a climate of “fake news” and “bravado strutting around on the public stage”.
She wrote: “We need to protect, defend and thank the current crop of journalists around the world, because they, their scruples and their principles are the frontline defence of free and informed people.
“Journalists today, investigative journalists, and especially female journalists, are vulnerable and come under a special scrutiny online.
“They must vouch for their stories, put their names on them, and as a result they attract the cowardly, the bullies, the brotherhood of bots and their easily aroused armies of haters.”
Porter’s annual Incredible Women list issue also includes open letters by comedian Tiffany Haddish, actress Emma Watson and model Cameron Russell.
Haddish has penned a note to empower her 18-year-old self, while Watson writes to late Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, whose death from a septic miscarriage is seen as instrumental in bringing about the Irish abortion referendum.
Russell calls the fashion industry out over its harassment and abuse scandal and its responsibility to women in the wake of the MeToo movement.
Actress Nicole Kidman, US model Karlie Kloss and Nigerian novelist also contribute to the list by writing about their unsung heroines.
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