“The Guardians” have been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2018.

The collective of journalists, the most well known of which is the murdered Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, will grace the covers of Time magazine’s next issue after the publication’s editors decided they had come to represent 2018 more than any other individual or group for the sacrifices they made in the “war on truth”.

“This year we are recognising four journalists and one news organisation who have paid a terrible price to seize the challenge of this moment: Jamal Khashoggi, Maria Ressa, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and The Capital Gazette of Annapolis, Maryland,” editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal explained in his latest editorial.

Mr Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on 2 October after apparently being tortured. The correspondent had been a prominent critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Maria Ressa is the editor of a Philippine news website known for its critical coverage of government violence. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are two Reuters reporters who were arrested in Myanmar for their part in investigating the massacre of Rohingya Muslims, while The Capital Gazette is the newspaper targeted by a gunman who killed four journalists and a sales assistant when he opened fire in its newsroom.

Four different covers will hit newsstands representing the four parties.

“As we looked at the choices, it became clear that the manipulation and abuse of truth is really the common thread in so many of this year’s major stories,” Mr Felsenthal elaborated on Today on NBC.

Donald Trump was the magazine’s second choice, he said, with FBI special counsel Robert Mueller third.

The magazine has carried out the tradition since 1927 and last year another group was chosen: those who came forward to report sexual harassment in the workplace as part of the #MeToo movement in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Time paid tribute to the silence breakers, “for giving voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social networks, for pushing us all to stop accepting the unacceptable”.

In 2016, Mr Trump, then the president-elect, was named “for reminding America that demagoguery feeds on despair and that truth is only as powerful as the trust in those who speak it, for empowering a hidden electorate by mainstreaming its furies and live-streaming its fears, and for framing tomorrow’s political culture by demolishing yesterday’s”.

Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium Show all 18 1 /18 Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium George W Bush - 2000 Elected President of the United States AFP/Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium Rudy Giuliani - 2001 Mayor of New York at the time of 9/11, selected for his response to the attacks AFP/Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium The Whistleblowers - 2002 Represented by Cynthia Cooper, Sherron Watkins (R) and Coleen Rowley (L) for coming forward with stories of corruption Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium The American Soldier - 2003 Representing US armed forces around the world, most notably in Iraq AFP/Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium George W Bush - 2004 Returned as President of the United States AFP/Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium The Good Samaritans - 2005 Represented by Bono, who had helped to organise the Live 8 concert and Bill and Melinda Gates who had founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium You - 2006 Awarded to you for creating content on the internet PA Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium Vladimir Putin - 2007 Was to become Prime Minister of Russia, was President at the time AFP/Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium Barack Obama - 2008 Elected the first black President of the United States Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium Ben Bernanke - 2009 Chairman of the US Federal reserve at the time of the financial crash Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium Mark Zuckerberg - 2010 Founder of Facebook Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium The Protester - 2011 Represented protesters from events across the globe such as the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement and the Tea Party movement AFP/Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium Barack Obama - 2012 Returned as President of the United States Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium Pope Francis - 2013 Elected head of the Roman Catholic Church Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium The Ebola fighters - 2014 The health workers who worked to stop the spread of Ebola in the West African epidemic AFP/Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium Angela Merkel - 2015 The German Chancellor was awarded for her leadership in the Greek debt crisis and the Eurozone refugee crisis Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium Donald Trump - 2016 Elected President of the United States in November Getty Time magazine's persons of the year so far this millennium The Silence Breakers - 2017 The people who spoke out against sexual abuse and harassment, including the figureheads of the #MeToo movement. Pictured is Rose McGowan, one of the women specifically honoured, addressing the Women's March in October 2017 AFP/Getty

Prior to that, the list of previous winners is as follows:

2015 – Angela Merkel

2014 – Ebola fighters

2013 – Pope Francis

2012 – Barack Obama

2011 – The protester (demonstrators from the Arab Spring, Occupy and Tea Party movements)

2010 – Mark Zuckerberg

2009 – Ben Bernanke

2008 – Barack Obama

2007 – Vladimir Putin

2006 – You (the individual online content creator)

2005 – The good samaritans (wealthy philanthropists)

2004 – George W Bush

2003 – The American soldier (especially fighting in the War on Terror)

2002 – The whistleblower (informants from Enron, WorldCom and the FBI)

2001 – Rudy Giuliani

2000 – George W Bush