Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi appears alone in one of the covers. He was killed at the Saudi embassy in Turkey earlier this year. An alternative cover features staff from the Capital Gazette, the US newspaper where five people were killed in a mass shooting. The final two covers are of Maria Ressa, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo.

Time have dubbed the journalists; ‘The Guardians and the War on Truth’. Each December, the publication awards the people they believe to be the most influential of the previous 12 months. Time’s person of the year started in 1927.

According to Time, the journalists were chosen: "For taking great risks in pursuit of greater truths, for the imperfect but essential quest for facts, for speaking up and for speaking out".

Maria Ressa is the editor of Rappler, a news website in the Philippines that is critical of the country’s leadership. She is facing tax evasion charges that she believes is political harassment.

Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are imprisoned in Myanmar for investigating the massacre of Rohingya Muslims.

Last year, the magazine gave the prestigious title to ‘The Silence Breakers’ – the women and men who spoke out against sexual abuse and harassment.

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