UNESCO reported on Monday that 189 journalists and other media workers were confirmed killed worldwide during 2024 and 2025, a 20 percent increase over the previous two-year period and the largest toll recorded since 2014-2015. The figures appear in the Director-General's Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity, issued every two years to coincide with the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on 2 November, according to UN News.
The same report found that 86 percent of journalist killings went unpunished in 2024-2025, one percentage point higher than in the preceding biennium. It is the first time the impunity rate has climbed since UNESCO began tracking it in 2012.
"Journalists are increasingly paying with their lives for reporting from the frontlines of war and far too often those responsible for their killings are not held accountable," UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany said in the report.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that more than a decade of gradual improvement in holding perpetrators to account has stalled, and that the deadliest environments for reporters are also the places where justice is least likely. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in a message for the Day, said at least 34 journalists were killed over the past year and that six of every seven such killings go unpunished. In conflict settings, he said, impunity approaches 100 percent.
"This is a heinous affront to the victims and their loved ones, as well as all of us who depend on journalists to remain informed and engaged," Guterres said.
UNESCO described the killings as "a global scourge," with verified cases recorded in every region during the biennium. The Arab States accounted for the largest share at 97, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean with 37, Asia-Pacific with 34, Central and Eastern Europe with 14, Africa with 6 and Western Europe and North America with 1. The State of Palestine recorded the highest national toll in both years, with 30 killings in one year and 32 in the other.
Conflict zones account for two-thirds of deaths
Conflict areas were the site of 127 killings, or 67 percent of the total. Within those settings, UNESCO flagged the growing use of drones as "a disturbing new threat." Drone strikes killed 50 journalists during the biennium, amounting to 40 percent of all media workers killed in conflict zones.
The report documented seven incidents in which multiple journalists were targeted and killed in a single attack, including strikes on media workplaces and temporary reporting centres. Fifteen journalists were reportedly killed while wearing press vests or travelling in vehicles clearly marked "Press."
El-Enany renewed his call for respect of UN Security Council Resolution 2222, adopted unanimously in 2015, which treats journalists, media professionals and associated personnel as civilians in conflict situations. He noted that the status was reaffirmed in the Pact for the Future.
Progress outside conflict zones, but risks for women persist
The picture was more encouraging in countries not at war. Impunity there has fallen steadily, from 94 percent in 2012 to 77 percent in 2026 — a decline of roughly one percentage point per year. The 85 killings recorded in non-conflict zones represent the lowest figure in 18 years.
"This demonstrates that when governments invest in investigations, prosecutions and protections for journalists, progress is possible," UNESCO said.
The agency also noted that women journalists remain exposed to particular dangers, both in war zones and online. Thirteen of the 14 women killed during the biennium worked in countries experiencing armed conflict. A 2025 study by UN Women and the International Center for Journalists found that 75 percent of women journalists had faced abuse or harassment, online or offline. More than 40 percent reported offline violence connected to online attacks, up from 20 percent in a 2020 UNESCO survey.
"Across the world, journalists continue to pay an outrageous price for telling the truth," Guterres said. "On this International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, we demand justice. When journalists are targeted and their reporting is extinguished, it makes victims of us all."
The report's release drew parallel calls from journalist organisations, with the National Union of Journalists in the UK pressing for prosecutions of those who attack reporters and urging an end to impunity worldwide, according to coverage carried by Punch Newspapers, The Nation Newspaper and the NUJ itself.
The next biennial assessment, covering 2026-2027, will show whether the uptick in impunity proves an anomaly or the start of a reversal.
