What the Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) annual report reveals about 2024.
At least 124 journalists and media workers were killed in 18 countries in 2024 – the highest annual death toll in more than three decades. According to figures published today (12/2) by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), this marks a 22% increase from the previous year.
“Today is the most dangerous time to be a journalist in CPJ’s history,” said the Committee’s CEO, Jodie Ginsberg, speaking from New York.
Israel responsible for 70% of deaths
The CPJ report noted that the war in Gaza was the main cause of this surge, with Israel responsible for at least 85 journalist deaths. This accounts for 70% of the global total in 2024. Of these, 82 were killed in Gaza, while three were in Lebanon.
In fact, in Gaza and Lebanon, CPJ has identified ten cases, which it characterizes as “murder”, where journalists were deliberately targeted and killed. It is also investigating 20 additional deaths in which Israel is accused of intentionally targeting journalists.
Under international humanitarian law, journalists are considered civilians, meaning that deliberately targeting them constitutes a war crime.
“The war in Gaza is unprecedented in its impact on journalists and demonstrates a major deterioration in global norms on protecting journalists in conflict zones,” Jodie Ginsberg said.
In 2023, 78 journalists were killed in the Gaza war.
“But it is far from the only place where journalists are in danger,” Ginsberg added.
Covering Gaza – The War and Journalist Trauma with Manisha Ganguly
Manisha Ganguly, head of visual forensics and investigative correspondent for the Guardian, spoke to iMEdD during the International Journalism Forum 2024 about reporting on the war in Gaza through OSINT.
Attacks all around the world – Freelancers in the crosshairs
Sudan and Pakistan ranked second globally, each recording six journalist deaths in 2024. In Sudan, a civil war has been raging for two years. Meanwhile, Pakistan had not seen a journalist killed since 2021, yet “political unrest and media censorship surged,” according to the CPJ report.
Journalist killings were also reported in Haiti, Mexico, Myanmar, and Iraq, among other countries.
At the same time, however, the number of journalists and media workers killed in the war in Ukraine dropped. From 15 victims in 2022, the journalism community mourned two losses each year in 2023 and 2024.
A special mention is made of freelance journalists: in total, 43 freelancers—more than a third of all journalist deaths—were killed last year. Of these, 31 were Palestinians killed in Gaza, compared to 14 in 2023.
CPJ data shows a rising trend in freelancer deaths since 2020, underscoring an “ever riskier global environment for these journalists.” The report stresses that freelancers “are often the first or the only media present in the most dangerous conflict zones.”
The second deadliest year on record, after 2024, was 2007, when 113 journalists were killed amid the Iraq war. Nearly half of those deaths were directly linked to the war.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has been tracking journalist deaths worldwide since 1992. Since then, it has recorded 1,804 cases of journalists and media professionals killed.
