You're listening to Her Story Made History on the BBC World Service with me, Lee's Dousette.

I think this is this existential moment in time where if we don't take the right steps forward,

democracy as we know it is dead. We don't come under this kind of attack unless there's such a feeling of impunity and that impunity impinges on

everyone's rights when journalists are under attack, democracy is under attack.

Some of our listeners may have had the odd hate message and they're terrible.

How do you cope with 90 an hour?

I'm sure really ugly ones too.

Yeah, the ones of rape, murder, I mean there's some really

creative ones looking for anything that is a weakness. How you look, how you sound,

who you're with. So you were doubting yourself, questioning yourself. Remember, I'm not just a

reporter now. I run the company and so our managing editor at one point said, Maria,

maybe you shouldn't do these stories because it takes the entire company down.

Maria Ressa, Filipino American journalist.

Her fight against fake news and online abuse has come to symbolize the growing battle

worldwide to defend media freedom.

How did a prominent TV correspondent who seized on the potential of digital media end up in a

cyber war and court battle with the Philippines powerful President, Rodrigo Duterte? Ninety hate messages an hour, heaven stopped her.

Nor has the prospect of 63 years in jail, on charges of cyber libel and tax evasion. This is how her story made history.

It all began in Manila.

Yeah, I lived through the Declaration of Marshall Law.

My family left when Marshall Law was declared in 1973.

I moved to the United States.

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