2024 179 Journalists killed :::: In Bangladesh, unrest in July left 7 scribes journalists dead ::::: Pakistan had "highest" number of journalists killed -- 12

Trends tell the story .... 

75 journalists/media persons were killed in 2019, 

92 in 2020

79 in 2021

116 in 2022

140 media people casualties in 2023

and now 179 (2024) 

 

Outside the Middle East and Ukraine, Pakistan had the highest number of journalists killed, 12 since 1 January, says report.

In Russia 7 journalists killed (including three in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia and one in Kursk). 

In Bangladesh, unrest in July left 7 journalists dead. 

The situation remains very dangerous in Mexico, where 7 journalists have been killed. 

Hostilities in Sudan caused the death of 6 journalists. 

In Colombia, 4 media workers were killed, where 4 killed in India, 3 in Iraq and 3 in Myanmar (Burma). Two people were killed in Somalia, two in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and two in Haiti. Cambodia, Chad, Ecuador, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Nepal and the Philippines, followed with one fatality in each country.

Conflicts in the Middle East are responsible for more than half of the victims. They have claimed the lives of 91 journalists: at least 80 in the Gaza Strip, 6 in Lebanon, 4 in Syria and 1 in the West Bank. 

In total, the hostilities in Gaza since 7 October 2023 have killed at least 161 media workers, an unprecedented toll for a conflict in such a short space of time. 

In 2024, the war in Ukraine resulted in the deaths of 19 Ukrainian journalists (most of whom had joined the army) plus one foreigner (Ryan Evans of Reuters in Kramatorsk). To this must be added the death in custody in Russia on 10 October of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Rochtchina, making a total of 21 victims.

A record number of media workers were killed last year, deplored the global media safety and rights body Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), citing that at least 179 of them lost their lives in 25 countries around the world in 2024. 

Updating its annual report, the PEC stated that almost three quarters of the victim journalists were murdered in conflict zones. December was a particularly dramatic month with 20 more journo-victims. 

The increase in 2024 compared with 2023 (140 media casualties) according to the same criteria is 28%, added the PEC statement adding that 116 media workers were killed in 2022, followed by 79 in 2021, 92 in 2020, 75 in 2019, etc.