RSF’s 2024 Round-Up: journalism pays an exorbitant human price
There has been an alarming intensification of attacks on journalists – especially in conflict zones, where over half of the news professionals who lost their lives this year, perished.
Gaza stands out as the most dangerous region in the world, with the highest number of journalists murdered in connection with their work in the last five years. Since October 2023, over 145 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army, including at least 35 whose deaths were linked to their journalism.
What’s more, 550 journalists are currently imprisoned worldwide, a 7% increase from last year.
This violence – often perpetrated by governments and armed groups with total impunity – needs an immediate response. RSF calls for urgent action to protect journalists and journalism.
‘Journalists do not die, they are killed; they are not in prison, regimes lock them up; they do not disappear, they are kidnapped.’ – Thibaut Bruttin, RSF’s Director General
‘These crimes – often orchestrated by governments and armed groups with total impunity – violate international law and too often go unpunished. We need to get things moving, to remind ourselves as citizens that journalists are dying for us, to keep us informed.
‘We must continue to count, name, condemn, investigate and ensure that justice is served. Fatalism should never win. Protecting those who inform us is protecting the truth,’ says Bruttin.
Around the world, the number of journalists killed for covering conflict zones – in Iraq, Sudan, Myanmar, Ukraine and the region affected by the war in Gaza – has reached a five-year high (57.4%).
Gaza is the world’s most dangerous region for journalists:
In 2024, the Gaza Strip accounted for nearly 30% of journalists killed on the job, according to RSF’s latest information. They were killed by the Israeli army.
Palestine is the most dangerous country for journalists:
It recorded a higher death toll than any other country over the past five years. More than 145 journalists have been killed in Palestine since October 2023, including at least 35 targeted in the line of duty, according to our latest information.
RSF continues to investigate these deaths to identify and condemn the deliberate targeting of media workers, and has filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes committed against journalists
Asia is the second most dangerous region for journalists:
Due to the large number of journalists killed in Pakistan (seven) and the protests that rocked Bangladesh (five), Asia remained the region with the second-highest number of killed media workers.
The number of journalists behind bars increased:
The rise in the number of detained journalists this year (+7.2%) is in large part due to new journalists in custody in Russia (+8) and Israel (+17).
Israel became the world’s third-largest prison for journalists:
Israel is, by far, the country that has locked up the most journalists since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, and is now the world’s third-biggest prison for journalists.
Locked-up journalists are concentrated in four countries:
The world’s four largest prisons – China (124, including 11 in Hong Kong), Myanmar (61), Israel (41) and Belarus (40) – hold almost half of the world’s detained journalists.
The combined sentence of journalists around the world is 250 years in prison:
Imprisonment is weaponised to repress journalism, especially in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Russia (38) uses its prisons as a means to repress independent Russian and Ukrainian reporters (19).
70% of [media] hostages are in Syria:
Most of them were kidnapped by the Islamic State during the war and, 10 years later, it is still extremely difficult – if not virtually impossible – to obtain information on their fate and whereabouts. The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has opened a window of hope.
Yemen is the only country with new [media] hostages in 2024:
Of the 55 media workers currently held hostage worldwide, two were kidnapped in 2024, by the Houthis in Yemen.
Mali is the only country with new [media] hostages in 2023:
Director Saleck Ag Jiddou and host Moustapha Koné of Radio Coton were kidnapped on 7 November 2023 by an armed group. The demanded ransom is now 4 million CFA francs (around 6 150 euros).
Nearly 100 journalists are still missing in 34 countries around the world:
Over a quarter of these disappeared in the last 10 years.
28 disappeared in the last decade:
Most notably, they went missing in Mexico (five), Syria (three), Mali (three), the Democratic Republic of Congo (two), Palestine (two) and Iraq (two).
45% of missing journalists are victims of enforced disappearance:
Disappearances are often attributed to authoritarian or negligent governments, which highlights the urgent need to combat impunity and strengthen protections for journalists.
RSF calls on all countries to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006 but only counts 75 ratifications to date
Mexico stands out as the country with the most missing journalists:
It concentrates more than 30% of missing journalist cases, although four new enforced disappearances occurred in Burkina Faso, Nicaragua, Russia, and Syria in 2024.
RSF’s online barometer is constantly updated by our zone managers and correspondents with the names of journalists who have been subject to abuse (killed, detained, held hostage, missing).
- Read the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2024 Round-Up here
