UNESCO records 189 deaths in 2024–2025 as conflict reporting drives a rising toll and global impunity worsens.
Impunity for journalist killings has risen globally for the first time since 2012, UNESCO warns. Its latest report puts unresolved cases at 86 per cent, alongside a sharp increase in deaths.
UNESCO recorded 189 killings during 2024–2025, compared with 158 in the previous two-year period, a 20 per cent increase. The tally covers journalists, media workers and social media producers carrying out journalistic work.
Meanwhile, the global impunity rate increased from 85 per cent in the previous reporting period. UNESCO released the findings to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.
Conflict drives journalist killings
Of those killed, 127 were reporting from conflict zones, representing 67 per cent of the total. UNESCO said the overall death toll was the highest for any two-year period since 2014–2015.
The organisation also warned that military drones pose growing dangers to journalists covering armed conflict. At least 50 journalists died in drone strikes, accounting for 40 per cent of conflict-zone deaths.
Across six war zones, drone attacks accounted for slightly more than a quarter of all recorded killings. UNESCO also documented seven attacks that each killed multiple journalists, including strikes on media workplaces and temporary reporting centres.
Fifteen journalists reportedly died while wearing press vests or travelling in vehicles clearly marked as press. UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany urged respect for UN Security Council Resolution 2222, which recognises journalists as civilians during armed conflict.
El-Enany warned that journalists increasingly lose their lives reporting from war frontlines, while those responsible frequently escape accountability.
Women face risks as impunity persists
Women journalists also faced particular dangers in conflict zones and through abuse online. Of the 14 women journalists killed during the reporting period, 93 per cent died while covering conflicts.
The report cited a 2025 study by UN Women and the International Center for Journalists. It found that 75 per cent of women journalists had experienced online or offline abuse and harassment.
Moreover, reported offline violence linked to online abuse rose from 20 per cent in 2020 to over 40 per cent in 2025.
Regionally, the Arab States recorded 97 killings, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean with 37. Africa, however, recorded six deaths, down from 14 in the previous two-year period.
Despite the global rise in impunity, countries outside armed conflict showed progress. Their unresolved-case rate fell to 77 per cent in 2026, from 94 per cent in 2012.
UNESCO said sustained investment in investigations, prosecutions and protection could help reduce impunity. It warned that failures to investigate and prosecute killings threaten press freedom and the public’s right to information.
