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One hundred and eighty-nine journalists were killed in connection with their work during 2024 and 2025, a 20 percent increase on the 2022–2023 figure, according to a report on journalist safety and impunity released by UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Anany.
Of those deaths, 127 occurred in areas of armed conflict. The report notes that 40 percent of the conflict-zone fatalities resulted from drone strikes — a detail that points to a shift in how journalists covering active fighting are being killed, moving beyond the traditional risks of crossfire.
Palestine recorded the highest toll at 62 journalists killed, followed by Mexico with 17 and Sudan with 14. The conflict in Ukraine claimed the lives of 12 media workers during the same period.
The report describes a broadening pattern of targeted violence. “Local and international war correspondents face growing dangers — not only the risk of being caught in crossfire, but also of being deliberately targeted far from the front line,” it states. In four countries, 36 journalists died inside temporary field media centres and workplaces. In one incident alone, nine journalists were killed in a single strike.
Two decades of killings, little accountability
Over the past 20 years, UNESCO has recorded the deaths of 1,600 journalists in total. Investigations have been concluded in only 14 percent of those cases, leaving the vast majority unresolved.
The report does identify one area of modest progress: in countries not experiencing armed conflict, the share of cases with no completed investigation fell from 94 percent in 2012 to 77 percent in 2026. The improvement is real but limited, and the overall impunity rate remains high.
El-Anany framed the findings in stark terms. “Commitment to press freedom is more important today than ever, because it remains under serious threat — in conflict zones and in peaceful regions alike, and journalists continue to pay a heavy price for it,” he said.
The report does not detail the methodology used to classify a death as work-related, nor does it specify whether the figures cover only confirmed killings or include cases still under investigation.