
2024 deadliest year for journalists; almost 70% killed by Israel

The free flow of information was dealt a record-setting blow in 2024 as more journalists were killed than in any other year since CPJ began collecting data in 1992. The brutal Israel-Gaza war, along with conflict and political unrest in several other nations, brought the total number of journalists and media workers killed to 124, two-thirds of them Palestinians killed by Israel.
The number of conflicts globally – whether political, criminal, or military in nature – has doubled in the past five years, and this is reflected in the high number of journalist deaths worldwide. But the toll of conflict on the press is most glaring in the unprecedented number of journalists and media workers killed in the Israel-Gaza war, 85 in 2024 and 78 in 2023.
“Today is the most dangerous time to be a journalist in CPJ’s history,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “The rise in journalist killings is part of a broader trend of muzzling the media globally. This is an issue that should worry us all—because censorship prevents us from addressing corruption and criminality, and from holding the powerful to account.”
CPJ’s annual report on journalists killed also shows an unprecedented number of freelancer deaths – 43 – in 2024.
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Russia ramps up pressure on ‘foreign agent’ journalists

Russia is seeking to tighten the squeeze on independent voices from March 1 by blocking those designated as “foreign agents” from access to their earnings.
So-called foreign agents will not be allowed to withdraw their earnings unless they are removed from the register. However, the government can withdraw money from agents’ accounts to pay fines imposed for failing to apply that label to their published material or to report on their activities and expenses to the government — a legal requirement since 2020.
While the new law’s full impact remains to be seen, it looms as yet another threat for exiled media outlets already rattled by the prospect of losing funding after U.S. President Donald Trump’s freezing of foreign aid.
-Explore Russia’s repression record
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Safety Resources
The Committee to Protect Journalists promotes press freedom worldwide.
We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
Journalists Attacked
Myat Thu Tan


Ahmed Al Shayyah
Freelance, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Mohammed Al-Talmas
Safa News Agency, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Omar Al Dirawi
Assulta Arrabaa, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Jimmy Jean
Moun Afe Bon, Haiti

Marckendy Natoux
Freelance,Voice of America, Haiti

Jihan Belkin
Hawar News Agency (ANHA), Syria