2024 deadliest year for journalists: Report

ISTANBUL

2024 marked the deadliest year for journalists with at least 124 journalists killed, nearly two-thirds in attacks linked to Israel, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The report published Wednesday highlights that the frequency of global conflicts -- political, criminal or military -- has doubled in the past five years, leading to a significant rise in journalist fatalities in countries such as Sudan, Pakistan and Myanmar.

The most striking effect on the media has been the record number of journalists and media workers killed in the Israel-Gaza conflict, with 85 deaths in 2024 and 78 in 2023.

“Journalists are considered civilians in international humanitarian law and targeting them in a conflict is a war crime,” the report stated.

It also noted that the killing of journalists and media workers highlights the growing dangers faced by the media and the increasing threat to the flow of information worldwide.

"Conditions can grow more lethal for the press when those who kill journalists are not held to account. And fewer journalists mean less information for citizens seeking the truth,” the report said.

The global total of 124 journalist deaths surpasses the previous record of 113 in 2007, a year when nearly half of the casualties were due to the Iraq War, according to CPJ.