122 journalists and media workers killed in 2024
One of deadliest years for journalists
One hundred and twenty-two journalists and media workers, including 14 women, were killed last year, according to the International Federation of Journalists’ Killed List for 2024.
The figure is just seven below the 129 killings of media professionals in 2023, which was among the worst for journalists since the IFJ started its annual Killed List in 1990.
In addition the IFJ revealed that as of 31 December 2024, 516 journalists were in prison - a sharp increase compared with 2023 (427) and 2022 (375). China (including Hong Kong) is the worst offender, with 135 journalists behind bars, ahead of Israel (59 Palestinian journalists) and Myanmar (44).
The IFJ published its annual Killed List on December 10 on International Human Rights Day but has updated it to give the total for 2024 and to take into account the result of additional deaths in the Middle East and the Arab world after nine more journalists were killed in Palestine and two in Syria in late December.
They included the killing of five journalists in central Gaza just after Christmas who were hit by an Israeli air strike whilst working for the satellite channel Al-Quds Today. They died sleeping in a clearly-marked broadcasting van near al-Awda Hospital, based in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Séamus Dooley, NUJ Assistant General Secretary said: “The litany of journalists killed in 2024 is profoundly depressing and disturbing.
“The killing of five journalists in Gaza on January 26th is a grim reminder of the contempt with which the provisions of the Genera Convention have been treated by the Israeli government.
"Journalists and media installations are protected under the rights granted to civilians in international law. The right to due process is being swept away as Palestinian journalists are targeted. Simultaneously, independent journalists from outside the region are denied access in what is effectively a war on journalism itself.
“In reviewing the list it is important to consider the many locations across the world where journalism is a dangerous profession and where journalists are regarded as legitimate targets. The NUJ has been to the fore in highlighting the need for global action to defend journalism and the right to seek the truth.
“There is a need for moral leadership by those who claim to cherish democracy and publication of the list underlines in very stark terms the need for a UN Convention on the safety of journalists."
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said of 2024’s death toll: “Our thoughts are with the families and friends of 122 media professionals killed this year. Behind this high figure, there are 122 truncated stories. To guarantee that the deaths of journalists do not go unpunished and to put an end to this scourge once and for all, we urge UN Member States to take steps to ensure the adoption of a binding Convention on the safety of journalists. Such a Convention would aim to end the journalist’s deaths and injuries that sadly occur every year."
The full list of those who have died can be downloaded here and the totals across the world are:
The MIDDLE EAST AND ARAB WORLD: 77
The war in Gaza and Lebanon once again highlights the massacre suffered by Palestinian (64), Lebanese (6) and Syrian (1) media professionals, representing 58% of all journalists killed in 2024. Since the war’s start on 7 October 2023, the number of Palestinian journalists killed has risen to at least 147, making this country one of the most dangerous in the history of modern journalism.
Elsewhere in the region, this year the Federation has counted three media professionals murdered in Iraq, including two women on 23 August, plus a photographer killed in Syria on 4 December and two Kurdish journalists killed in northern Syria on 19 December.
ASIA-PACIFIC: 22
In Asia-Pacific, the IFJ deplores the murder of seven journalists in Pakistan, five in Bangladesh, three in India, one in Cambodia and one in the Philippines. In addition, the military regime in Myanmar is continuing its hunt for journalists - three journalists have been killed this year - while Indonesia and Kazakhstan have each had one death.
AFRICA: 10
Ten journalists were murdered in Africa in 2024 - four in 2022 and nine in 2023. But it was Sudan that paid the heaviest price with six deaths, as a result of the 'generals' war'. In addition, two Somali journalists, a Chadian journalist and a journalist in DR Congo lost their lives this year.
AMERICAS: 9
In 2024, the IFJ counted nine deaths in the Americas compared with 30 in 2022 and six in 2023 including five Mexicans, two Colombians and two Haitians. As in the past, journalists in the region have suffered threats, intimidation, kidnappings and murders mainly due to their reports on drug trafficking, which has plagued Mexico for more than two decades.
EUROPE: 4
The war in Ukraine has again claimed victims, with four journalists killed in 2024, compared with 13 in 2022 and four in 2023. Despite this conflict, Europe remains the safest continent in the world for journalists.