'Most dangerous time,' Committee to Protect Journalists says after 2024 marks deadliest year

A new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday that 2024 saw a record number of journalists killed around the globe — marking a sharp rise over the years in the killings of reporters and media workers in conflict zones.

The committee's report said that at least 124 journalists across 18 countries were killed last year, resulting in the deadliest year since CPJ began logging it more than three decades ago. In comparison, some 102 journalists were killed in 2023 and 69 were killed in 2022, the committee's database showed.

Attacks by Israeli military forces accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the total deaths, with attacks in Sudan and Pakistan having the second highest death tolls, according to the report's findings.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) CEO Jodie Ginsberg said it is "the most dangerous time to be a journalist in CPJ's history."

"The war in Gaza is unprecedented in its impact on journalists and demonstrates a major deterioration in global norms on protecting journalists in conflict zones, but it is far from the only place journalists are in danger," Ginsberg said in a statement Wednesday.

It said previous record high deaths were in 2007, when 113 journalists lost their lives, almost half due to the Iraq War.

The committee said it found that at least 24 of the 124 journalists killed in 2024 were deliberately targeted because of their work, adding that 10 of those cases were documented in Gaza and Lebanon.

The committee noted that while these specific cases meet their classification of deliberate killings, it should not imply that the other killings in its database are considered lawful, but rather that it has not been able to determine if they were singled out for their profession.

85 journalists killed in Israeli attacks in 2024

CPJ said the Israel-Gaza war has accounted for the deaths of 85 journalists, including 82 in Gaza and three in Lebanon— nearly two-thirds — at the hands of the Israeli military in 2024. Some 78 journalists were killed in Gaza the year before, in 2023, according to the committee.

The committee accused Israel of attempting to stifle investigations of incidents, shift blame onto journalists and ignore its duty to hold people to account for the killings.

The Israeli military, when asked for comment, said not enough information was provided on the alleged incidents and that it was therefore not able to check them, adding that it takes all operationally feasible measures to mitigate harm to journalists and civilians.

"The IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists," the army said.

CPJ said that one of the journalists who died last year — Ismail al-Ghoul, a 27-year-old Palestinian reporter working for the Al Jazeera Arabic TV channel — was deliberately killed along with his colleague Rami Al Refee by an Israeli drone strike on their car. The pair were leaving a refugee camp near Gaza City where they had been reporting.

At least six journalists and media workers have been killed globally since the beginning of this year, CPJ said.

'Increased dangers' for reporters, media workers: report

Sudan and Pakistan had the second-highest number of journalists killed, after Israel, in 2024.

Tens of thousands of civilians were killed and millions were displaced in Sudan's brutal civil war. CPJ said it found that three journalists were killed in connection with their work and is investigating the motive for the killing of a fourth. It also logged the killings of two media workers.

It said six journalists were killed in Pakistan, as political unrest and media censorship surged, despite the country not having such deaths since 2021.

"All of the 2024 killings point to the increased dangers facing reporters and media workers — and the threat that poses to the flow of information worldwide," the Wednesday report said.

WATCH | Palestinian journalist in Gaza said his work made him a target: 

He says journalism is his patriotic duty, even though it made him a target

25 days ago

Duration 1:06

Diaa Al-Ustaz says his work made him and his colleagues a target, with the International Federation of Journalists reporting this month that at least 152 journalists have died covering the war.

CPJ said it had documented an "alarming rise in the number of targeted killings," adding that at least 24 journalists were deliberately killed because of their work last year, including in Haiti, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan and elsewhere. It said it had documented at least 10 cases of targeted killings by Israel.

The committee said it is also investigating 20 other killings in which it believes Israel may have specifically targeted journalists.

The report also noted that killings are "not the only indicators of a dangerous media landscape," adding that no journalists were killed in Somalia, Cameroon or Afghanistan in 2024, but reporters still faced other pressure such as reported arrests, assaults and censorship.

Rise in killings of freelancers

Another figure that saw an increase in deaths last year was the number of freelancers killed in conflict zones.

The report said 43 journalists and media workers — more than one-third — killed in 2024 were freelancers.

"Another grim new record for self-employed members of the press who often face the most danger because they have the fewest resources," it said. 

Of those, 31 freelancers were killed in Gaza, rising from 14 in 2023.

Gaza journalists were the only media in the war-torn territory who were providing crucial coverage for global media outlets — including CBC News — during the nearly 16-month-long war as foreign media members were barred from entering except on tightly controlled visits led by the Israeli military.

A phased ceasefire between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel began on Jan. 19 but is currently in jeopardy. Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after the Oct.7, 2023, attack in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. 

More than 48,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israel's retaliatory assault, according to Palestinian health authorities. 

A peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet on Jan. 9 suggests that the official figures of deaths in Gaza may be significantly underestimated. On June 30, 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry reported 37,877 deaths; the study estimated the number was likely around 64,200 by that date.

CPJ said its methodology for recording a journalist's killing in its database is if it has reasonable grounds to believe they may have been killed in relation to their work: either killed accidentally in a conflict zone or on a dangerous assignment, or killed deliberately because of their journalism.