The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent non-governmental organisation that defends press freedom globally, has released a report revealing that 2025 was the deadliest year for the media since it began tracking data over three decades ago. According to the report, a total of 129 journalists and media workers lost their lives last year, marking the second consecutive year that press fatalities have reached record-breaking levels.
This surge in violence is largely attributed to the actions of the Israeli military, which was responsible for two-thirds of all journalist killings globally in both 2024 and 2025.
The Israel-Gaza war has become the most lethal conflict for the press on record. CPJ findings show that the Israel Defence Forces have carried out more targeted killings of journalists than any other military since 1992. In Gaza alone, where human rights groups and U.N. experts have raised alarms over genocide, over 60% of the 86 media members killed by Israeli fire were Palestinians reporting on the ground. These actions violate international humanitarian law, which classifies journalists as civilians who must never be targeted.
Beyond the Middle East, conflict zones in Sudan and Ukraine also saw a rise in fatalities. In Sudan, the civil war between the government and the Rapid Support Forces has led to the deaths of nine journalists, with reports of women journalists being raped and media offices turned into detention centres. In Ukraine, four journalists were killed by Russian military drones, marking the highest annual death toll in that conflict since 2022.
Also, a scary trend identified in 2025 is the rapid increase in drone killings. Deaths from these remote-controlled devices jumped from only two in 2023 to 39 in 2025. Israel used drones in 28 of these cases, while others were carried out by forces in Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen, and Iraq. This technology allows for precision strikes, yet it is increasingly used to unlawfully attack members of the press.
The danger to the press is not limited to war zones, as journalists continue to be murdered in countries with weak rule of law, such as Mexico, India, and the Philippines. Many were killed for exposing corruption or organised crime. For example, in Mexico, six journalists were killed in 2025, and all cases remain unsolved. Even those under federal protection, like editor Calletano de Jesús Guerrero, were not safe from assassins.
Fueling this violence is a persistent culture of impunity. CPJ notes that 80% of journalist murders worldwide remain unsolved. There have been almost no transparent investigations into the 47 cases of deliberate murder documented in 2025, and no one has been held accountable. To combat this, CPJ has called for radical reform, including the creation of international task forces to bring perpetrators to justice.
The report also highlights a rise in deadly smears, where governments label journalists as terrorists or militants without evidence to justify their deaths. Furthermore, families are increasingly being used as tools of pressure, with reports indicating the Israeli military has killed over 700 family members of journalists since late 2023. As CPJ’s Chief Executive Officer, Jodie Ginsberg warns, these attacks are a leading indicator of declining freedoms for everyone, making global action more urgent than ever.
Check CPJ’s methodology for documenting journalist deaths here and also download a spreadsheet with the data for CPJ’s 2025 killed report.
