Announcing its findings on Wednesday, the CPJ said at least 124 journalists were killed in 18 countries last year, in what was the deadliest year for media workers since the committee began keeping records more than three decades ago.
The previous deadliest year for media workers was 2007, when 113 journalists were killed, with almost half of those due to the Iraq war, the press freedom group added.
“Today is the most dangerous time to be a journalist in CPJ’s history,” the committee’s chief Jodie Ginsberg said in the statement.
“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, but it is far from the only place journalists are in danger,” she stated.
At least 85 journalists died throughout 2024 at the hands of the Israeli military during Israel’s war on Gaza, the CPJ said, with 82 of those who were killed being Palestinians.
The advocacy group also accused Israel of attempting to stifle investigations into the killings, shift blame onto journalists for their own deaths, and ignoring its duty to hold its own military personnel accountable for the killings of so many media workers.
The CPJ named Sudan and Pakistan as the joint second most deadly countries for media workers last year, with six journalists killed in each.
It also said at least 24 journalists were deliberately killed because of their work, in what it described as an “alarming rise in the number of targeted killings”.
The CPJ said 10 journalists were “murdered” by the Israeli military in Gaza and Lebanon, while the 14 other journalists were assassinated in Haiti, Mexico, Pakistan, Myanmar, Mozambique, India, Iraq, and Sudan.
The group added that freelance journalists accounted for 43 deaths – more than 35 percent of last year’s total – with 31 of those cases being Palestinians reporting from Gaza.
“International media continue to be barred from reporting from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, except for rare and escorted trips arranged by the Israeli military,” the CPJ noted, highlighting the essential work of freelancers in the besieged enclave.
“CPJ has repeatedly advocated for Israel and Egypt to open access, and reiterates that call as part of the ongoing ceasefire,” it added.
