Four journalists, including slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and a newspaper, dubbed as the 'Guardians of the Truth' have received this year's coveted title of Person of the Year by TIME magazine.

"For taking great risks in pursuit of greater truths, for the imperfect but essential quest for facts that are central to civil discourse, for speaking up and for speaking out, the Guardians-Jamal Khashoggi, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, Maria Ressa and the Capital Gazette of Annapolis, are TIME's Person of the Year," Edward Felsenthal, TIME's Editor-in-Chief stated on Tuesday.

This is the second year in a row that TIME has given the title to a group of individuals rather than a single person. 'The Silence Breakers' who spoke out about the sexual harassment and assault they've faced, which led to a movement that took the world by storm, were named TIME Person of the Year 2017.

The magazine also announced Robert Mueller, who is leading investigations into Russian meddling in the US elections, and Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America, as the runners-up for the title. The student-led movement, 'March for Our Lives', has also been named a runner-up for calling for stronger gun control laws in the USA in the wake of the high school shooting in Parkland that killed 17 people.

Furthermore, South Korean President Moon Jae-in was named as a runner-up for "taking a gamble on diplomacy to avert a global crisis", along with Ryan Coogler, the director of 'Black Panther' who proved that a "movie can bring people together" in a "year marked by division".

"From Russia to Riyadh to Silicon Valley, manipulation and abuse of truth is the common thread in so many of this year's major headlines, an insidious and growing threat to freedom," Felsenthal wrote.

"They are representative of a broader fight by countless others around the world - as of Dec. 10, at least 52 journalists have been murdered in 2018 - who risk all to tell the story of our time," he further wrote while referring to the 'Guardians of the Truth'.

"One of the people who sought refuge in these freedoms was Khashoggi, the most visible representative of this harrowing year for truth. This marks the first year TIME has named someone who is no longer alive a Person of the Year," the Editor-in-Chief opined while referring to the freedom of expression for which TIME has lauded the USA for remaining a "beacon for truth and free expression".

"But it is also rare that a person's influence grows so immensely in death. Directed by a killer whose motive was "control of information," as Khashoggi's fellow Washington Post columnist David Ignatius noted, the murder has prompted a global reassessment of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, who a CIA assessment concluded likely ordered the killing and the devastating war he has waged in Yemen," he noted.

"The press always has and always will commit errors of judgment, of omission, of accuracy. And yet what it does is fundamental," Felsenthal said in his concluding remarks.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)